Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is coming to America.
The sport's biggest global star has agreed to terms for a defense of his WBA, WBO and IBF world titles against fellow unbeaten Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller in Joshua's U.S. debut at New York's Madison Square Garden, according to Friday's report from Mike Coppinger of The Ring.
The bout will likely take place June 1 or June 8 and will stream exclusively in America on the all-sports app DAZN, which launched in 2018 with Joshua's knockout of Alexander Povetkin in London.
Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs), a 2012 Olympic gold medalist with his native Great Britain, moved off his originally scheduled return date of April 13 at London's Wembley Stadium after talks for a rematch against Dillian Whyte. A former amateur rival, Whyte (25-1, 18 KOs) hurt Joshua early in their 2015 bout before "AJ" rallied to finish him, one fight before winning his first world title.
The 29-year-old Joshua has made six title defenses since first knocking out Charles Martin for the IBF title in 2016. He went on to unify titles in wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Joseph Parker but has been heavily criticized in the U.S. for a lengthy 2018 negotiation with WBC champion Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) that never came to fruition.
Wilder, 33, fought to a thrilling (and contested) spilt draw with unbeaten lineal champion Tyson Fury in December and the two appear headed toward a spring rematch.
Miller (23-0-1, 20 KOs) brings enough size at 6-foot-4, deceptive speed and volume punching to be an interesting opponent for the 6-foot-6 Joshua. Although the fight will represent a considerable step up in competition for Miller, the former kick boxer has remained active of late and has stopped 11 of 12 opponents going back to 2015.
The brash Miller, a native of Brooklyn, New York, also brings a brash personality with him into the fight, which is one he has called for going back to 2017. Miller crashed DAZN's introductory news conference in New York last fall and needed to be held back from attacking Joshua.
