Britain's International Boxing Federation (IBF) world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua could defend his title in the Beijing National Stadium, according to plans being made by his promoter Barry Hearn.

The Matchroom Sports top brass said that he is in talks with Chinese officials about staging a fight involving the Watford, Hertfordshire native. Joshua won the heavyweight class title belt from Charles Martin of the United States by a second round knockout victory at the O2 Arena in London in  April.

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If the 67-year-old Hearn's plans materialize, it would mean that the 2012 London Olympics gold medalist will be stepping into the boxing ring in the stadium that was the centerpiece of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

"When you plan someone's career like Joshua you tend to plan in advance and I think we're two years away from saying we can sell out the Bird's Nest in China," Hearn explained. "I think Joshua's going to be a global figure, and therefore I've got to give him a global platform. I was in Shanghai last week and we were talking. As soon as you show people pictures of Joshua knocking someone out, they get excited."

The undefeated Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs), who has won all of his professional bouts via Technical Knockouts, will make the first defense of his title against undefeated American Dominic Breazeale (17-0 15 KO's) in London next month. A favorable result is likely to raise anticipation for a probable unification bout with compatriot world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

However, according to Yahoo Sports, Hearn has said that he is hoping that his prized fighter could go up against China's 2008 Olympic silver medalist Zhang Zhilei (8-0, 5 KOs)  at the Bird's Nest.

"He's a heavyweight who is almost 7ft tall and we could do it with a pay-per-view audience of tens of millions of Chinese people watching it," Hearn said.

Joshua defeated Zhang by a 15-11 score in the 2012 London Olympics in a very close fight. 

TagsAnthony Joshua, IBF, Tyson Fury, Zhang Zhilei, barry hearn, Beijing National Stadium, dominic Breazeale