It was announced in August 2016 that Anthony Joshua would be making a second defence of his IBF title at the Manchester Arena on 26 November.

Possible names put forward for the fight were top IBF contenders Kubrat Pulev, Bermane Stiverne, Hughie Fury and Joseph Parker.

[2][3][4] Former unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko became the frontrunner after his scheduled rematch with Tyson Fury was cancelled for a second time.

Klitschko then turned his attention to fighting Browne instead on 10 December, a date that his team had booked for an arena in Germany.

[12][13] Bryant Jennings and David Price were the names being pushed forward to fight Joshua next, however it was announced Joshua would be fighting at the Manchester Arena, defending his title against former world title challenger Éric Molina (25–3, 19 KOs), who was coming off a stoppage victory against Tomasz Adamek.

On 2 November, the WBA finally agreed to sanction a fight for their super title as long as Joshua defeats Molina in December 2016.

It was announced that Joshua and Klitschko would face each other for the IBF and vacant WBA (Super) titles at Wembley Stadium, London, on 29 April 2017.

[18] WBA president Gilberto J. Mendoza confirmed that the winner would have to face mandatory challenger Luis Ortiz next, with deadlines due to be set after the unification fight.

[21] In January 2017, Eddie Hearn announced that more than 80,000 tickets had been sold, a new box office record, overtaking Carl Froch vs. George Groves II.

[26][27] In front of a post-war record crowd of 90,000 in attendance, Joshua won by technical knockout (TKO) in the eleventh round.

The fight, according to The Economist, "will be remembered as a spectacular one, perhaps even as a classic, for its dramatic swings in momentum and the ferocity of the punching" and for waking heavyweight boxing "from a prolonged slumber" during the years of unrivalled Klitschko dominance.

Hearn said Joshua's next fight would likely take place at the end of the year, possibly at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

[37][38] Confirmed bouts:[39] ^Note 1 For IBF, vacant WBA (Super), and IBO heavyweight titles ^Note 2 For vacant WBA female Inter-Continental lightweight title The domestic television rights to the fight were held by Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view, while radio rights were held by BBC Radio 5 Live.

[50][51] In a press release, German TV channel RTL announced the fight was watched by an average 10.43 million viewers.