Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight world title showdown against Daniel Dubois is set to break the attendance record for a sporting event at Wembley Stadium after a capacity increase request was approved.
96,000 fans are set to descend on the national stadium on September 21 to witness British rivals, Joshua and Dubois duke it out for the IBF crown, 2000 more than the original record set in April 2022 when Tyson Fury stopped Dillian Whyte in front of 94,000 also at Wembley.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, who is bringing his revolutionary Riyadh Season brand to London for the first time confirmed the news on social media on Thursday.
Joshua looks to become a three-time world heavyweight champion against the 26-year-old who was elevated from interim titlist to full champion in June, following Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to relinquish the belt.
Usyk, who won the undisputed championship in May with a split decision victory over Fury, was already locked into a rematch with ‘The Gypsy King’ and with the IBF calling their mandatory, the Ukrainian had little choice but to vacate, a decision he claims he had no qualms with.
“It’s good. IBF does not take my belt, I give my belt for Anthony Joshua and Dubois,” the 37-year-old told Sky News.
“Because for me, it’s important that my sport, boxing develops.
“But if I take four belts, OK, what? I have four. I must defend IBF.
“Now it’s not possible because we have rematch.
“Ok, no problem. It’s good when different sportsmen have belts.
“For me, it’s good. For boxing, it’s great.”
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Dubois bounced back from defeat to Usyk with two stoppage wins, firstly over Jarrell Miller in December and then against Filip Hrgovic in June.
The pair are familiar with each other having sparred each other during their days with Team GB and ’Dynamite’ insists he’s gunning for a knockout.
“Win by any means necessary,” Dubois told Sky Sports.
“But, a stoppage is definitely what I’m after.
“A good stoppage and a statement victory and that’s what I’m all about.”
‘AJ’ will fight at Wembley Stadium for the third time in his career and the first time since stopping Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
The 34-year-old has rubbished claims that his countryman dropped him during their sparring sessions.
“Good spars,” he told Sky Sports.
“He just cracked me with a good shot, but I stood on my feet.
“I don’t know where this whole narrative of someone turned my lights off came from.”
Additional tickets for Joshua vs Dubois will be available on ticketmaster.com on Friday at 12pm.
