Joshua to fight Usyk on September 25, says Eddie Hearn

Eddie Hearn, Anthony Joshua’s promoter, has confirmed that the WBO title bout between his client and Oleksandr Usyk, a Ukrainian boxer, is billed to hold on September 25.

Joshua was forced to fight the Ukrainian after a court ruling halted the highly anticipated £200 million unified world heavyweight title fight between him and Tyson Fury.

The American court ruled that Fury must fight Deontay Wilder for the third time before the final quarter of the year.

Immediately after the unified title bout was put in jeopardy, WBO gave Joshua a 48-hour ultimatum to salvage the fight with Fury or be forced to face Oleksandr Uysk, a mandatory challenger.

The development led to a bitter social media battle between Joshua and Fury, with the former describing the latter as  “a fraud” who is “lying” to the fans for “clout chasing”.

According to SkySports, Hearn confirmed on Friday that his client would face Usyk on September 25.

He, however, didn’t announce the venue of the fight.

“Joshua v Usyk announcement, don’t want to say two weeks as you guys are bored of me saying that,” the promoter was quoted as saying.

“September 25 is the date.”

The fight’s winner will face the victor from the Fury and Wilder bout billed for July 24.