Anthony Joshua has revealed his dream location for a future fight night is Kinshasa, to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
Joshua has experienced six stadium fights, including a 90,000 sell-out of Wembley against Wladimir Klitschko, in his career so far. The two-time former unified world champion has also competed at the iconic Madison Square Garden, albeit in a defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr.
As Joshua prepares for the toughest test of his career, aiming to regain his titles from the wily Oleksandr Usyk, the 32-year-old told The Sporting News of his bucket-list venue.
“It would be good to go back to the stadium that Ali and Foreman fought in,” Joshua said, when asked where he dreams of fighting. “That would be an epic experience.”
The Rumble in the Jungle is arguably the most famous bout of all-time, with Ali and Foreman travelling to then-Zaire (now Congo) to face off at the May 20 Stadium (later renamed to Stade Tata Raphael).
A crowd of 60,000 watched Foreman put his 40-fight undefeated record on the line. Ali used the rope-a-dope to produce an incredible underdog victory, tiring his compatriot before producing an eighth-round knockout to win back the heavyweight titles for the first time in seven years.
Joshua’s shot at revenge against Usyk comes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the Middle Eastern nation winning a protracted bidding process. It marks the second time Joshua has travelled to Saudi Arabia for a lucrative rematch.
The British superstar lifted the lid on the other potential locations that missed out, claiming he would have happily gone to Usyk’s home country of Ukraine, had it not been for the Russian invasion.
Joshua said: “Ukraine was an option and then the war happened. UK was an option. Saudi was an option.
“Yeah, of course, of course, of course [I would’ve fought in Ukraine]. I haven’t got any problem fighting anywhere. Yeah.”