Deontay Wilder facing fellow ex-world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2023 comes with extreme caution for the sport.
Wilder and Joshua have been in contact over a clash twice before. Both times the negotiations never ended well.
Now, as the pair hanker over getting a big payday before their once bright flames extinguish for good, talk has turned once again to Wilder vs Joshua.
World Boxing News had first-hand knowledge of how the discussions went the last time they crumbled. After four years, Wilder seems to have only one thing on his mind – to get AJ in the ring.
That’s despite a WBC ruling regarding a clash with Andy Ruiz Jr. – which at this stage – Wilder seems highly disinterested in making happen.
Speaking with Elie Seckbach this week, Wilder addressed rumors of a four-strong heavyweight tournament featuring Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk and himself versus Joshua.
Deontay Wilder wants Anthony Joshua
“Let’s make it happen,” Wilder told ES News. “I’m going to give [the] Saudi [Arabian fans and investors] their first knockout victim.
“Any Wilder fight, you can expect that, but this one will be really special. I’ve got something special that I will put on the punch [for Joshua] with this one.”
As “The Bronze Bomber” gets back into it with Joshua, the intent months after co-manager Shelly Finkel spoke exclusively to World Boxing News.
After watching Dillian Whyte vs Jermaine Franklin, Finkel aired his views to WBN.
“Deontay is willing to fight Anthony Joshua next,” Finkel told World Boxing News in a world-exclusive interview. “We would take that fight in the UK or the Middle East and do it next.
“We have the WBC eliminator with Ruiz, and we will do that, but we want the Joshua fight,” added the New York.
He continued: “Eddie Hearn said he contacted me in August, but we had the [Robert] Helenius fight. We announced it that month and said we won’t talk to anyone until after the Helenius fight. Eddie knew this but still said he had contacted us.
“Now we are willing to talk to make a deal for Joshua next.”
Middle East tournament
When asked for a comment on today’s developments, Finkel said: We’ve wanted to fight Joshua for years. Let’s make a deal if it can happen in the Middle East. Why not?
“Deontay wanted to do it before, so let’s give the fans the fight they wanted.”
Regarding Wilder vs Ruiz, which was planned by Al Haymon since 2020, Finkel previously said: “The Ruiz fight is there, and we will do it if we can’t get Joshua. But even if Deontay beats Ruiz, we are still willing to fight Joshua.
“We are worried that he might want another tune-up if he fights Whyte and doesn’t look good. So we should go straight into that fight next.
“The fans would like to see Deontay Wilder vs Anthony Joshua, and we are willing to do it.”
Fans shouldn’t get too excited, especially from the AJ side. In the last two weeks alone, the 2012 Olympic champion has changed his plans several times.
First of all, Joshua said he wanted Fury after beating Franklin on April 1 in London. Then, he made a u-turn through his promoter, who said he needed at least one fight before “The Gypsy King.”
Later on, a return in the summer was stated as planned before Joshua then said he won’t be back until December.
It all makes for a confusing situation. And one that can only end well if the four most significant top-division stars agree on contracts when they’ve all failed to do so before.
If it happens, it could be boxing’s biggest miracle.
Follow experienced boxing writer Phil Jay on Twitter @PhilJWBN. Follow WBN: Facebook, Insta, Twitter.
