Olympic gold medal winner Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15KOs) could be fighting for a world title on April 9th at the O2 in London, according to the fighter's promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport.
There are ongoing discussions for Joshua to challenge newly crowned IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21KOs), who picked up the belt last month at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with a third round stoppage of an injured Vyacheslav 'Czar' Glazkov.
Hearn says Martin is requesting a very large sum money to make the fight, but the two sides are continuing to discuss the terms in a hope that a deal will be reached.
Joshua was last in action back in December when he knocked out domestic rival Dillian Whyte in the seventh round. It was the first time Joshua had been past the mid-way point of a fight.
Hearn was planning to announce Joshua's next opponent earlier today and postponed that decision as the talks with Martin continue.
Hearn told Sky Sports News HQ: "He's IBF world champion and he's been calling Anthony Joshua out. It shows the size of Anthony Joshua, you've got a world champion there calling Anthony Joshua out. He's made some noise saying: 'We've offered Anthony Joshua the fight.' It doesn't really work like that. You phoned us up and told us you want an extortionate amount of money and then you'll fight him so we're working the numbers on that fight.
"It's the 16th fight of Anthony Joshua's career. Is it too early? It's a huge gamble. Two relatively inexperienced guys. I think Charles Martin is 6ft 5in and Anthony's 6ft 6in. They both punch with immense power. It's one of those you might have to watch through your fingers.
"Anthony Joshua wants the challenges. Sometimes it's difficult to win a world heavyweight title. Now you have a guy who appears to be prepared to come to London on April 9 so we have to take it seriously. He's not our only option. We've got three or four others that we're looking at but over the next 48 hours, we'll find out exactly where we're at. Could it be a shot at the world heavyweight title? Just maybe..."
Article courtesy of Boxing Scene