Anthony Joshua vs Wladimir Klitschko: WBA sanction world heavyweight title fight for Spring 2017

The WBA have officially sanctioned a spring showdown between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.

Whether the body gave its blessing to the fight was seen as the sole stumbling block when it was originally scheduled for December but was put on hold when neither sides could finalise a deal.

As a result, Joshua will now defend his IBF World Heavyweight title against Eric Molina at the Manchester Arena on 10 December. Should he win that bout, as expected, he is then lined up to come face to face with Klitschko in the spring.

“It’s been an arduous wait to gain official approval but we were delighted to receive the news that the WBA will officially sanction the fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko for the WBA title,” said Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter.

“We now move forward with Bernd Boente and Team Klitschko in planning the date and venue knowing that victory against Eric Molina in Manchester on 10 December is more important than ever.”

The Klitschko camp had previously insisted that any bout against Joshua would need to get the thumbs-up from the WBA to fight for the belt vacated by previous champion Tyson Fury to deal with his “medical treatment and recovery”.

The IBF and WBO world titles will also be on the line for the spring 2017 fight between Joshua and Klitschko providing the Briton wins his fight next month.

Joshua won the IBF belt by beating American Charles Martin with a second-round knock-out and put up a first successful defence versus Dominic Breazeale by stopping him in the seventh round of their encounter in June.