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Lem’s latest: Anthony Joshua-Matt Legg on Carl Froch-George Groves II

Fighters Network
19
May

Olympic gold medalist and heavyweight Anthony Joshua will look to improve to 6-0 with as many knockouts against Matt Legg in support of IBF super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch's rematch against George Groves on May 31 at Wembley Stadium, live on Sky Sports, Matchroom Sport announced on Monday.

"I can't wait to box at Wembley on May 31. It's going to be an unbelievable experience," said Joshua, 24, who was last in action for a first-round stoppage of Hector Alfredo Avila in March.

"To box at the national stadium on a bill of this magnitude is a real honor and I plan to kick the night off with a bang against Matt. I know he will want to put on a show on such a huge occasion but I will be looking to add another big KO to my collection."

The 38-year-old Legg (7-2, 3 KOs) is coming off last month's second-round knockout of Deyan Mihailov, rebounding from a third-round stoppage loss to James Toney in November.



Also on the card, Kevin Mitchell, 29, will pursue his fifth consecutive victory against Ghislain Maduma, also 29, in an IBF lightweight title eliminator

Mitchell has not lost since falling by fourth-round knockout to then-WBO beltholder Ricky Burns in September of 2012 and was last in action for last month's second-round stoppage of Mikheil Avakyan.

In addition, there is a bantamweight bout between Jamie McDonnell and Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat and an IBF 168-pound eliminator featuring 2008 Olympic gold medalist James DeGale against Brandon Gonzales.

 

JOSH WARRINGTON TO FACE MARTIN LINDSAY ON WEDNESDAY

Featherweight Josh Warrington looks to continue his undefeated streak against Martin Lindsay on Wednesday at the First Direct Arena in his native Leeds, England, live on Sky Sports, Matchroom Sport announced on Monday.

"It's an honor to be called the flag-bearer for boxing in Leeds. I'm a proud Leeds lad and I love everything about the city. Hopefully I can become like Ricky Hatton was to Manchester and I hope we keep coming back for big boxing shows in the city more and more. Sky Sports are buzzing in boxing now and I've got a massive fight with Martin. He's beaten some top names and is a former British champ so I'd be a mug to look beyond Martin," said the 23-year-old Warrington (17-0, 2 KOs).

"It's a huge opportunity for him too as he's going to want to get his name back out there so I'll have to be at my best on Wednesday and I've been training hard to make sure I am at my peak. People are so excited about the boxing coming here. It's a great arena and it's on the doorstep of a major sporting city like Manchester. It's great for me, the rest of the fighters around here and for the city. Leeds United players say that they want to come down and the Leeds Rhinos boys too. Jamie Peacock is carrying the belt into the ring which is amazing, so the city is embracing the boxing and that's great."

Warrington is coming off last month's seventh-round stoppage of Rendall Munroe. The 32-year-old Lindsay (21-2, 8 KOs) was last in action for a third-round knockout of Krzysztof Rogowski on May 10 that helped him rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Lee Selby in February 2013.

"The last six months has been a bit surreal. After beating Rendall, I had only just got off my stool as he retired and they were asking me if I was ready for May 21. It's come round really fast but I'm fully focused on it and I want to take these opportunities with both hands and I am ready to do so. It's been a mad six months winning the Commonwealth title in Hull, defending it against a great fighter like Rendall and now defending it against with the British on the line against another big name in Martin but I'm the type of fighter that will fight anyone out in front of me.

"If they had said, 'Do you want to fight for the European title?' I would say yes. 'World title?' Yes. Fighting the big names in 50/50 fights brings the best out of me and also, it's what the viewers want to see, British boxing is in a great place at the moment and we need to capitalise on that. People don't want to see fighters in boring fights where one man can't win; they want the 50/50 ones and this will be a great fight. The pressure will spur me on. I've driven past the arena pretty much every day since it's been built and they did a little animation of what the place would look like with events going on and boxing was a part of it and I thought, 'Wow, I'd love to box in there,' and now I am. It's a dream come true."

 

STEFAN HARTEL SIGNS WITH SAUERLAND EVENTS

Sauerland Events has announced the signing of German amateur standout and 2012 Olympiuc middleweight Stefan Hartel, who will make his professional debut on August 16 at 168 pounds.

 

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