There’s been plenty of talk that Anthony Joshua could fight in Nigeria one day.When Joshua’s rematch with Wladimir Klitschko was still on the cards, promoter Eddie Hearn listed the African country as a possible location for the bout.And back in June, heavyweight Tyson Fury said that he wanted fight to fight Joshua in front of 180,000 thousand fans in the Nigerian city of Lagos.Klitschko has since retired and it remains to be seen whether Fury will ever fight again.But that’s not to say Joshua won’t one day fight in the country where he attended boarding school.“I thought I was going there (Nigeria) on holiday,” Joshua said about his surprise stint at boarding school as an 11-year-old, per the Daily Mail.
“I wasn't prepared for it. It was a boarding school as well.
“At the time you think 'Why?', but as you get older you think it was good that you experienced it. It was good for me.”
Joshua believes Nigeria fight is possible
Yet it’s still hard to imagine Joshua fighting in Nigeria given the pedestal his boxing achievements have put him on. Las Vegas is seen as the pinnacle for the world’s biggest fights and the 27-year-old, who holds a 19-0 record, is certainly reaching that level.
Still, Joshua believes it’s possible. Back in June, the British heavyweight champion was involved in an interesting exchange in which he said, “you shouldn’t write anything off.”
He shut down an interviewer who said it's farfetched
The interviewer suggested to Joshua that fighting in Nigeria was farfetched, which prompted an explanation from the IBF, WBA and IBO champion of just why a fight in the country wouldn’t be so much different to a bout in Vegas.
“Lagos is an hour ahead of us or behind us, six hours on the plane. It takes 10 and a half hours to get to Vegas,’’ Joshua said.
"When you say farfetched it's maybe because you don't know Lagos the same way you know Vegas.
"I will say in my own humble opinion, you shouldn’t write anything off. As long as the fight is good it doesn’t matter where it is. Fighting brings people together regardless.’’
Joshua went on: “If you want to talk in terms of time zones, travel cost and other stuff, it doesn’t make much difference to going to Vegas. It’s actually a better option.
“But I can see what you are saying because Vegas is like the mecca of boxing, Mayweather and all that, but I’m going to defend Nigeria.”
Watch the exchange below.
It would certainly be interesting to witness some huge fights outside of Las Vegas or London.
Joshua’s next fight, against Kubrat Pulev, will take place in Cardiff, but that’s not quite as exciting as the setting of Muhammed Ali’s third fight against Joe Frazier in the ‘Thrilla in Manila’.