ANTHONY JOSHUA and Tyson Fury have been pencilled in to stage an historic night of British boxing on July 9 with both fighters now expected to put their respective versions of the world heavyweight title on the line.

Promoters Matchroom intend to stage Joshua’s first defence of the IBF crown torn from Charles Martin on Saturday evening at Wembley Stadium on the same evening of Fury’s rematch with Wladimir Klitschko in Manchester.

Joshua stopped defending champion Martin in the second round at London's 02 Arena, just six miles from where he won his Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Games.

His emergence as a world champion leaves him well-placed to become one of Britain's most popular sporting figures in the coming months, but there is a danger his next contest could be overshadowed by WBA and WBO champion Fury stepping into the ring almost at the same time.

Joshua's challenger will almost certainly not be as decorated or seasoned as Klitschko and the weekend of July 9 and 10 is already packed with top-level sport with the Wimbledon singles finals, the Euro 2016 final, the British Formula One Grand Prix and the UFC 200 rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz all taking place over those two days.

"July, it was always going to be the ninth," said promoter Eddie Hearn, when asked of his plans for Joshua's first title defence.

"We'll have to take a look at the top 15 (of the IBF heavyweight rankings) because a lot of the guys are taken up.

"If he's ready, I don't see why we can't get back early July. That's the plan. That was why Sky turned down the Fury-Klitschko fight (which will be on BoxNation). They see AJ as the future.

"The plan would be to build AJ as a pay-per-view fighter in America as well. Wembley's where we were looking to go."

Although he showed no apparent vulnerability to fighting a southpaw for the first time in his professional career, Saturday fight's was only Joshua's 16th bout in the paid ranks.

The swift and destructive nature of the finish meant he was unable to demonstrate if he had learned from the mistakes made in his previous fight with Dillian Whyte.

The likelihood is Joshua remains more raw than Saturday suggested and will therefore require further time to develop before facing one of the heavyweight division's bigger names, but he clearly wants to get into the ring with the likes of Fury and former champion David Haye.

"Me, Tyson Fury and David Haye, we have to fight,” said Joshua. “We can't get through this whole era without fighting. That would be silly.

“We will get it on at the right time. It's just bound to happen at some stage."

Fury took to Twitter to criticise Joshua's performance, but the new IBF champion refused to be drawn into a slanging match.

"I'm not going to lower myself,” stated Joshua. “He talks like a kid. He's predictable, really. He should be happy I won."

Joshua admits, however, that he is nowhere near the finished article.

"Getting there is one thing,” he said. “Maintaining it will be harder, so I need to be a bit more disciplined.

"We've got more to go. I'm happy I got the world title fight, we developed a different level of stamina, composure. A new level of man was born.”

On the undercard, Scots boxer David Brophy was comfortably beaten by George Groves in a contest for the WBA International super-middleweight title.

Groves took charge from the opening bell behind his powerful jab and rocked Brophy with a strong right. The Caldercruix fighter did manage to land a right of his own towards the end of the opening round, but he was quickly placed on the back foot in the second with Groves opening a gash beneath his right eye in the third.

The end came soon after the start of the fourth. Groves delivered a powerful right to the solar plexus and landed another couple of blows as Brophy was on his way down. Referee Howard Foster stopped the contest after Brophy had staggered to his feet.

Brophy took to social media to express his disappointment. “Heartbroken on that performance,” he tweeted. “Live and learn. I’ll be back.

“Done myself no justice with that performance. I’m sorry to let everyone down with that.”

Groves, meanwhile, is hoping to secure a fourth shot at a world title having completed his second win in two fights since he started working with new trainer, Shane McGuigan.

"I have always been great with my jab,” said Groves. “Anyone who fights me is up against it from the get-go.

"I hurt Brophy in the first, but he showed guts and strength. I stuck with the gameplan and stopped him with a body shot.

"That shows you the power, now I am working with Shane.

"I will fight absolutely anyone, any day of the week. I truly believe in myself."