World Boxing News exclusively revealed Deontay Wilder wanted to fight Anthony Joshua in 2023. The American was even willing to face AJ next.
However, a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. Wilder vs Joshua was given a window of August to October by co-manager Shelly Finkel in a WBN update.
Furthermore, Wilder is eyeing Andy Ruiz Jr. before Joshua in a world title eliminator. This allows Joshua to get back to winning ways in a rematch against an opponent he’s already defeated in Dillian Whyte.
Plans were seemingly set in motion with Finkel and Eddie Hearn in talks for the first time in four years. That no longer appears to be the case if you take what Eddie’s father, Barry, recently told Sky Sports.
The leader of the Matchroom empire believes Joshua will fight Tyson Fury at the back end of next year instead. Eddie and Barry are not precisely singing from the same hymn sheet.
Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury
“We’re going to see a very interesting 2023 across the whole heavyweight division. Joe Joyce is up there, and ‘The Juggernaut’ is a handful. Daniel Dubois is coming back,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
“Obviously, Tyson Fury is the number one in the world. He’s going to take all the beating. But I think he is quite close to getting the Usyk fight signed off. That’s a hell of a good fight and a dangerous one.
“I think Usyk is the number one heavyweight in the world. Tyson will disagree with me. Let’s go and see.
“The fight we all want to see eventually is AJ against Fury. You’ll get stories, Tyson will say the fight will never happen, and Joshua will say he’d rather fight Dillian White. Forget all of that.
“This fight has to happen. I think it does happen at the tail-end of 2023 for all the marbles,” he added.
Deontay Wilder on hold
Joshua is looking for a new trainer after splitting with Robert Garcia after just one fight. Garcia was also critical of Joshua’s work ethic in the gym, which won’t have gone down well.
AJ is firmly at the do-or-die stage in his career following back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk. For his next challenge, he needs to choose the right coach to take him forward for the longer term.
“Anthony is in the States at the moment trying out some new trainers and getting his head right. He wants to be active in 2023,” pointed out Barry, before naming three potential opponents, one of which we know won’t be happening next in Wilder.
“I think Dillian [Whyte] is on the list. There are a few other names – Deontay Wilder might be there [fighting Ruiz], Otto Wallin. It’s his call.
“He is at a crossroads in his career. He can’t afford another loss.”
