Anthony Joshua has confirmed that he plans to fight Deontay Wilder in December after much speculation that the duo would face off. The 33-year-old returned to winning ways with a points victory over Jermaine Franklin at the start of the month and is now eyeing up another American opponent next.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn had flown to Saudi Arabia this week to sort out the details of his next fight and the British fighter has now appeared to confirm his opponent will be Wilder.
“That’s what’s happening,” Joshua told Kay Physical when asked if a Wilder fight was on the cards. “It’s public news, we’re throwing it down in December.”
Joshua is back in form after overcoming two disappointing defeats to Oleksandr Usyk by overcoming Franklin in a unanimous points decision at the start of the month.
Wilder is in a tough position having not fought since his own comeback win against Robert Helenius last October. The 37-year-old had just come off the back of two defeats to Tyson Fury at that point but got back to winning ways emphatic style with a first-round knockout.
Wilder has previously described Joshua as his dream fight and he looks set to get his wish.
“We got a lot of different options right now at this moment in time. Joshua, everybody,” he told IFL. “I think a lot of people is going to get that dream fight everyone wants to see.”
There has been speculation that Joshua and Wilder’s bout could form part of a four-way tournament in Saudi Arabia with Fury and Usyk also facing off on the same night. The heavyweight duo were locked in talks over a title fight earlier this year however it fell through after no agreement was found.
However, Hearn believes that it could still be possible with Fury using a mooted fight against Andy Ruiz in July as a ‘warm-up’.
“It’s realistic because Saudi Arabia means business and we’ve done deals there before, easily and frequently,” Hearn told the Lightweight Boxing Show when asked if a tournament was possible.
“There’s no negotiations [already] but I fly there next week to start those negotiations. Subject to the deal, which has never been a problem with them [Saudi Arabia], AJ will fight Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury – no problem at all. They need all four fighters on board to make it happen. I’m sure Usyk will do it, I know Deontay Wilder will do it.
“Tyson Fury will think he holds the key to it. He’s going to fight Andy Ruiz Jr I believe in July, a decent warm-up fight for him.”
It remains to be seen whether or not a tournament will end up taking place but it looks increasingly certain that Joshua and Wilder will be going toe-to-toe before the end of the year.