The prospect of Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua meeting before the end of the year seems to be becoming more and more remote.
A fight which was apparently set in stone just a few weeks ago looks to be drifting further away by the day.
The fighters apparently want it to happen next, broadcasters would be overjoyed at the prospect of another pay-per-view extravaganza and boxing fans have clamored for the fight for years.
All that is left to do is find a backer willing to commit to putting the much-discussed figures onto an official contract.
Time is ticking by. Joshua is now 33 years old and Wilder is 37. The pair have circled each other for almost a decade but there finally seems to be a realization from all parties that the time has come for the former heavyweight champions to meet although when it will actually happen remains a mystery. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is preparing to explore different options in an attempt to get the fight done.
“The situation is that there have been months of conversations with Saudi Arabia and individually with Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder,” Hearn told Boxing Social.
“Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua both agreed to the fight in terms of the money and everything.
“At the moment, until we receive a contract to do that fight it’s not happening. Does that come this week? Does that come in two months? Does that come at all? I don’t know. We’re a little bit in limbo. We’re working with people we’re working with before and when they tell us it’s done, generally it’s done. On this occasion it’s not yet done.
“After meeting with A.J yesterday [Wednesday] and having a brief chat with Shelley Finkel, we want to make that fight. That fight is [one of the] top two fights in world boxing in terms of its size so we’re not limited to doing that fight in Saudia Arabia or the Middle East. Now, I want to start looking at alternative venues. Whether that’s a site fee, whether that’s Las Vegas, whether that’s Wembley.”
Saudia Arabia might have become the land of milk and honey for fighters and promoters but for boxing fans, Vegas is the spiritual home of heavyweight boxing.
A fight between Lineal and WBC champion, Tyson Fury, and WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO and Ring Magazine champion, Oleksandr Usyk, would decide once and for all who the undisputed heavyweight king is but Joshua and Wilder seem certain to engage in the most explosive and exciting fight the division can provide. A high profile, high stakes shootout on The Strip would be monumental for the sport.
If a deal proves impossible to complete before the end of the year, we could see history repeat itself. Think back to Evander Holyfield taking on Vaughn Bean and Lennox Lewis boxing Zeljko Mavrovic on consecutive weekends three months prior to their controversial draw in March 1999. We may yet see Joshua and Wilder box once more each before they finally trade punches with each other next spring.
“I said to A.J yesterday, ‘You against Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas is an absolute monster so let’s explore it’ and that’s what we’ll do,” Hearn explained. “In the meantime, do we look at that fight for January or March? Do we box in December? These are all parts of the conversations we had yesterday and – being completely honest – I don’t know the answer to any of it at the moment.
“My instruction is to explore alternatives venues while we wait to hear what’s happening in Saudia Arabia for A.J against Wilder. See if that’s a possibility for January. If it looks like it’s going to go to March or April, I think he’ll fight again. If he does, who? Where? There’s a lot of moving parts.”