Britain’s Anthony Joshua has successfully defended his IBF heavyweight title with a third-round stoppage of Eric Molina in Manchester.

Joshua, who made the second defence of his belt on Sunday, knocked the American down with a short right before the referee waved the fight off.

Molina struggled to get back to his feet as the count reached eight, but the referee stepped in again to stop the fight after two minutes and two seconds of the round with a technical knockout declared.

After a successful defence, Joshua will face former heavyweight king, Wladimir Klitschko at the Wembley Stadium on April 29, 2017.

Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn, who announced the bout date confirmed it would be for the “unified heavyweight championship of the world”.

He said it would be the “biggest fight in British boxing history”, with New Zealander, Joseph Parker as the newly-crowned WBO champion while America’s Deontay Wilder holds the WBC belt.

Klitschko, who lost his WBA, IBF and WBO belts to Tyson Fury 2015, says it is a fight that the fans want and it must happen.