The Theatre of Dreams is being considered as a potential venue for Anthony Joshua’s next outing.
As proven in his last three contests, Joshua has no problem selling out Britain’s biggest stadia and fans from the northwest of England could be treated to a fight close to home before 2018 is out.
‘AJ’ has fought in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in back-to-back bouts and, before that, he and Wladimir Klitschko put on an epic war in Wembley.
And now, Matchroom chairman Barry Hearn has admitted that Old Trafford could well be next for the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion.
An opponent has yet to be decided for Joshua although Hearn, whose son is promoter Eddie, has laid out the three possibilities.
“We are meeting on Tuesday afternoon,” he said. “There are three main dishes on the menu. Fight Deontay Wilder either home or away, face Jarrell Miller in New York to spread gospel in America before we fight Wilder, or do we honour our mandatory and fight Povetkin, with it being at Wembley or maybe at Manchester United. It is a possibility,” Hearn told BetFred TV, via Manchester Evening News.
“I can’t tell you what is most likely because it is Anthony Joshua’s decisions. I would like to go to New York and fight Miller because at the moment the pay-per-view buys are set at a certain level for Deontay Wilder.
“Those will grow and grow providing both fighters stay undefeated, and if they do, instead of 600,000 buys you are looking at two million. Wilder wants the fight, he isn’t ducking him. At the moment he is earning £2.5m, and he wants to earn £25m.”
Not since Chris Eubank’s rematch against Nigel Benn in 1993 has Old Trafford staged a boxing event but Joshua would have no problem packing it out.
Speaking to JOE last month, the undefeated heavyweight revealed that Wilder was his preferred opponent and, as recently as last weekend, he admitted that he was 95 per cent sure that the unification fight would take place this year.
