Wladimir Klitschko: record, next fight and profile →
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, Cuban heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz (27-0, 23 KO) will be in line to fight the winner of the April showdown between Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua - who clash for the IBF, WBA, IBO world titles.
Joshua said: “The last time I fought at Wembley it was in front of about 3,000 people at half past five in the afternoon. But it’s a fight and whether it’s in front of 90,000 people or nine people, it makes no difference.
Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz (27-0, 23KOs) will be in line for a world title shot in 2017. At the start of this year, the World Boxing Association ordered a tournament to establish a single WBA world champion in the heavyweight division.
The match-up at Wembley Stadium on April 29, for Joshua's IBF title and the WBA, IBO belts Fury recently vacated, is expected to attract a British post-war record fight crowd of around 90,000.
By Lyle Fitzsimmons - If you thought Wladimir Klitschko looked happy, you thought right. The former consensus ruler of the heavyweight division has spent the last 13 months out of the ringed spotlight, but he took a giant step toward returning when he agreed to meet Anthony Joshua on April 29 at Wembley Stadi...
Joshua MBE will face former World ruler Wladimir Klitschko for his IBF World Heavyweight title and the vacant IBO Championship as well as the WBA Super Championship on April 29, 2017 at Wembley Stadium Connected by EE, live on Sky Sports Box Office and RTL.
Undefeated heavyweight contender Hughie Fury (20-0, 10KOs) believes Wladimir Klitschko is going to turn back the clock and stop IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Joshua (18-0, 18KOs) takes a big step up in class when he faces Klitschko on April 29th at Wembley. The vacant WBA, IBO world titles will also be at stake in the bout.
Matchroom Boxing, the company that promotes Joshua, announced Monday via Twitter that tickets to their heavyweight title fight, scheduled for April 29 at London’s Wembley Stadium, have been priced from 40 British pounds ($49.57) for Level 5 seating to 2,000 pounds ($2,479) for the closest floor seats to the ring. Tickets for their scheduled 12-rounder for Joshua’s IBF heavyweight championship are set to go on sale Tuesday at noon GMT (7 a.m. ET/4 a.m. PT), and can be purchased at wembleystadium.com and stubhub.co.uk.
In 2014 the two sparred 20 rounds together at Klitschko’s training base in Austria, when Joshua remained an inexperienced professional, but the Briton is a keen student of the sport and will have learnt much from observing one of the finest heavyweight champions in history.
Klitschko's career has been on hold since losing his IBF, WBA, IBO and WBO belts in a surprising defeat to Tyson Fury in November 2015. Two attempts at a rematch failed because of Fury's personal problems, leaving the 40-year-old Klitschko in limbo after nearly a decade ruling the heavyweight division.