Anthony Joshua targets 'dream' fight in Texas

London, July 19: Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is thinking big - like Texas big - as he plots a fight on American soil in the future.

His past three outings alone - Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017 at Wembley Stadium, plus Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker at the Principality Stadium in October 2017 and March 2018, respectively - have drawn in excess of 250,000 fans in Britain.

In his next fight, on September 22, there will be another 90,000 watching on at Wembley when he puts his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles on the line against Alexander Povetkin.

While he is yet to fight in the United States, the Briton is keen to do so. He has even picked out a venue for the occasion.

The logical choices might be Madison Square Garden in New York, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas or the Staples Center in Los Angeles, yet Joshua - who dismisses the notion that he does not want to compete in front of an American audience - has his eyes set on the biggest stadium in the NFL.

"Yeah, definitely [fighting in USA]," Joshua told Sporting News. "Texas, anywhere that people want to watch boxing, I'll fight.

"It's not just about being big in the United Kingdom. People will travel from all over the world to go watch a fight. As long as the stadium is big enough and there's enough interest, I'll fight anywhere.

"My dream would be to fight in Dallas, at the AT&T Stadium, because they can get like 100,000 people to watch it. And if big-time boxing is back, if we can do it in little, small England, and get 90-100,000 people out, we can do it out in America."

This is Wembley... where there's nowhere to hide come fight night 🥊 #AJBXNG pic.twitter.com/R9IiiwKV7k

— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) July 18, 2018

Texas will have to wait for now, though. Joshua's next two fights will both take place at Wembley, starting with Povetkin later this year.

He is also already booked in for April 13, 2019 against an unknown opponent, with Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, recently telling Sporting News that the desired opponent is WBC champion Deontay Wilder.

"I've booked that date there for Wilder," Joshua stated. "I didn't book it for no one else. I didn't book that arena for no one else."

From a boxing fan's perspective, the biggest fight in the sport to make is Joshua against Wilder.

The historic showdown to determine the first undisputed heavyweight champion in almost 20 years deserves to be held in the biggest stadium in USA, but one of the biggest issues in trying to make it happen is money.

Still, when it comes down to it, the charismatic Joshua feels the Wilder bout will happen, providing his rival is "realistic" when it comes to negotiations.

"There's enough in the pot for everyone to eat," Joshua said. "I'm here to make the fight. I've done it with greater champions than him. I've done it with champions; [Charles] Martin, Parker, Klitschko and with world title challengers: Eric Molina, Takam, Povetkin.

"We've made fights with some of the best. He'll get what he deserves, but he just needs to be realistic. But ultimately, the fans need to get what they deserve - and that's a fight."

Source: OPTA