Twickenham open to hosting next Anthony Joshua heavyweight title fight

Twickenham bosses are open to hosting Anthony Joshua’s next heavyweight title defence in the summer with a potentially lucrative bout against Deontay Wilder looming.

Joshua’s promoters, Matchroom, had earmarked Wembley Stadium for his next major bout but with Tottenham playing there this season while White Hart Lane is being rebuilt, it has become more complex for other parties to use the venue.

Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn is keen to keep the fight in London with Twickenham his next choice and, although talks have yet to open between both parties, the Rugby Football Union is receptive to such a move.

A spokesperson for the RFU said: “As far as I’m aware, there hasn’t been an official approach but if Eddie Hearn or anyone in his team wanted to talk to us we’d be happy to have a chat.

“We haven’t had any official talks about a potential Anthony Joshua fight at Twickenham but we’re very open to the possibility.”

Twickenham has a history of hosting non-rugby events outside of the rugby calendar. Last summer, it hosted U2 concerts with further concerts planned for this summer.

Hearn is meeting with Joshua on Tuesday to plot his next move following a successful defence against Carlos Takam in Cardiff.Joshau

Hearn, though, admitted there were some complexities with getting the Wilder fight off the ground.

New Zealand’s WBO champion Joseph Parker may step in if a deal with American Wilder cannot be finalised.