Eddie Hearn, promoter for two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, says the British star is likely to fight again in the month of December – if a deal is not finalized for a mega-bout with Deontay Wilder in January.
The Wilder fight, if finalized, would take place in Saudi Arabia – with Saudi-based Skill Challenge Promotions offering up the money to stage the event.
If a deal is not reached in the near future, and the Wilder fight gets pushed back to a later date, then Joshua will look to return for a third time in 2023.
“Talks are ongoing. We are still in the same position of a January fight. If we don’t conclude that fight and they about moving it to February or March, we will probably fight in December. Wilder is talking about fighting in October, but it’s already September now,” Hearn told IFL TV.
“He will wait to fight Wilder in January. He’s training now. He wants to fight in December. If they turned around and said ‘let’s do the Wilder fight in December’ he’d do it. But everybody is talking like it’s happening, but until it’s happening it ain’t on. Until it’s on, we’ll keep our options open for December. Ideally, we’d like to go straight into the Wilder fight.”
Joshua returned to the ring in April with a twelve round unanimous decision win over Jermaine Franklin. He was back in action last month with a crushing knockout of late replacement Robert Helenius.
If Joshua returns in December, Hearn indicates that his opponent would be someone on the level of a Helenius or a Dillian Whyte.
“I think you’re going to end up seeing the best of him in the bigger fights. The reality is if he did have another fight it would be on the level of Dillian, Helenius… those kinds of levels. Would it get the best out of him? I don’t think it wouldn’t be beneficial [to have a third fight in 2023], but I don’t think it would change the result of the Wilder fight,” Hearn said.