Charles Martin Gets Major Boxing Props for His First Title Defense Against Anthony Joshua

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It’s official. IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) will travel to London to make his first defense against unbeaten Olympic star Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) on April 9 at the O2 Arena.

Charles Martin: “I told my Team I wanted the best challenger possible for my first defense and Anthony Joshua’s name kept coming up. I’m coming to the UK to make a statement that I am the best heavyweight in the world and no-one is taking my title. I’m world champion, so that doesn’t mean just sit back and make easy defenses in the US, it means facing the biggest challenges out there. I respect Anthony Joshua and everything he has accomplished, but on April 9 he’s getting knocked out.”

Anthony Joshua: “Fighting for the heavyweight world title has been a dream of mine since I turned professional. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to turn that dream into reality. Not only that, having the chance to fight for it in my home town at The O2 and live on Sky Sports is unbelievably exciting. Charles Martin is a great fighter and a hungry competitor so I am going to have to produce the performance of my career to claim that belt.”

Eddie Hearn, Anthony Joshua’s promoter: “Life is all about taking opportunities and when the chance to become Heavyweight of the world presented itself, there was no holding Anthony back. He wants to give the fans something to get excited about and he wants to become a great and even though the decision among the team took a week or so, I believe his mind was already made up from the moment I asked him. It’s a complete honour to promote an event of this magnitude. I believe it’s one that will go down in the history of the sport.”

Mike Borao, Charles Martin’s manager: “Special thanks to Eddie Hearn, MatchroomIBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin will travel to London to make his first defense against unbeaten Olympic star Anthony Joshua on April 9 at the O2 Arena.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday at 9am to Matchroom Fight Pass members from the Fight Pass area at www.matchroomboxing.com and O2 Priority members at www.theO2.co.uk. Thursday 9am sees the venue and AXS pre-sale before tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday.

Tickets priced between £40 to £500 will be available from www.theO2.co.uk and on 0844 856 0202. VIP tickets are £1,000 and available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing www.matchroomboxing.com.

Tickets for April 9 will also be available from http://www.stubhub.co.uk/matchroom-boxing-tickets/ from 9am on February 19 – StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing and Anthony Joshua.