Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk to battle for heavyweight titles on Sept. 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

For the first time ever, two Olympic gold medal-winning boxers will face off in the professional ranks. 

Anthony Joshua, the current unified heavyweight titleholder and 2012 Olympic super-heavyweight gold medalist, will face Oleksandr Usyk, 2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist, on Sept. 25. And it’s taking place on a grand stage: London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which can hold 60,000 people. 

Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) will be defending his WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight titles against Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs), who is the mandatory WBO challenger. 

Usyk has been fighting at heavyweight since 2019, and this will be his third bout at that weight. He moved up to heavyweight after he unified all four world title belts at cruiserweight. After Usyk’s unanimous win over Dereck Chisora in October, Joshua has no choice but to go through Usyk to keep the WBO title. 

As for Joshua, he’s been on a bit of a journey over the past few years. He held all four heavyweight titles from 2016 until June 2019, which is when he was shockingly upset by Andy Ruiz. He lost all four titles to Ruiz after a seventh-round TKO, but won them back in their rematch six months later. He’s had one bout since then, a ninth-round win over Kubrat Pulev.

Joshua seems pretty hyped for the fight. Via ESPN:

“We are two Olympic gold medalists who have fought our way to the top and never avoided challenges. The stadium is exceptional, the atmosphere will be electric, I’m honored to be the first person to fight in such an awe inspiring venue. The stage is set and I am ready to handle business.”

Usyk was a little — or a lot — more brief. 

“The path will be mastered by the walking one,” he told ESPN.

© Provided by Yahoo! Sports Anthony Joshua will defend three of his titles against Oleksandr Usyk on Sept. 25. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge – Pool/Getty Images)

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