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The Nigerian-British boxer, Anthony Joshua, has become a household name back home, having held the IBF title since 2016, and the WBA and IBO titles since April 2017.He is the second boxer, after Joe Frazier, to win a world heavyweight title whilst still reigning as Olympic champion at the top weight.

The current unified world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua has been rumored to have a rematch with Klitschko in the near future as Klitschko tries to win back the titles he lost to AJ earlier in the year.

According to Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, the fight could potentially take place in Las Vegas, Lagos, or Cardiff and they're currently sifting through the various deals on the table to pick out the most suitable and realistic.

When questioned about the likelihood of having the fight in Lagos, AJ was quick to defend his fatherland, pointing out that in terms of flight time and time zones, Lagos was more favorable.

I would like to argue that although it's true many great fights have happened in Vegas and there's all the facilities needed but Vegas was not always like this. There was a first fight, and maybe other cities around the world also deserve to have their first. The Nigerian seemed pretty excited at the prospects of having a fight back home but unfortunately the decision isn't all his to make. All parties involved have to decide on what's going to be beneficial for them all.

So What Are The Odds?

As much as every Nigerian, and indeed African, would love to have a world heavyweight championship fight happen on African soil, are we really ready for this? Let's examine three key points...

Timing

If this fight is to happen in Lagos, big money will need to be poured into it, with inputs from the corporate sector as well as the government. Most of these work based on budgets that may have been (or are almost being) passed, thus bringing to bear the reality that they just might be unable to be a part of the fight.

There's likely going to be a big excuse of them not being aware, prepared, and needing at least a year's notice, and so on. Will the fight be pushed back to accommodate this or will Nigeria have to squeeze out all they can to accommodate the fight?

The Arena

The biggest capacity stadium in Nigeria is in the capital, Abuja with a capacity of 60,000. This is way below the 90,000 capacity Wembley stadium that played host to the previous Joshua-Klitschko fight.

The biggest functioning stadium in Lagos has a capacity of about 25,000; less than a third of Wembley's. Is this the crowd Klitschko would want to fight in front of? A big fight deserves big crowds so if the fight is to take place in Nigeria, it seems Lagos is out of the running based on this, leaving Abuja as the only option.

Klitschko's Preference

For a fight to happen, all parties involved need to find a common ground and especially in a potentially big fight as this, one party cannot just lord it over the other. It has been rumored that Klitschko would only accept a rematch if it's going to be staged in Las Vegas. The news going around is that Klitschko is not all about the money this time around, and it's more about the venue than anything else. He wants a big fight and the glamour of Vegas seems to really be very attractive to him at this time. He wants a *big* fight.

So with all of this being said, is it still feasible to have a world heavyweight fight in Nigeria? Let us know in the comment section what you think!

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Can Nigeria Really Host Anthony Joshua's Rematch With Wladimir Klitschko?