Two alternative opponents for Anthony Joshua have been named with the British boxer’s proposed heavyweight clash against Deontay Wilder in doubt. The fight was expected to take place in the Middle East later this year.
However, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is concerned that Saudi Skill Challenge Entertainment, the organization responsible for staging Tyson Fury’s crossover fight against Francis Ngannou next month, is leaning towards hybrid matchups. And that could scuttle any chance of a winter clash between former heavyweight champions Joshua and Wilder, whose common enemy is WBC’s king, Fury.
“If we don’t get that sorted soon, you’ll probably see AJ fight [someone else] in December,” Hearn told Boxing King Media. “Firstly, Prince Khalid [bin Abdulaziz] have been great partners with us and great friends. I’m sure we’ll work with that new entity as well.
“You saw yesterday they throw a lot of money in these things and make some noise. For us, we’ve agreed to terms for Joshua and Wilder, but until we receive a contract, the fight’s not happening. Everybody has agreed to terms, but until the money is put in place, the fight’s not happening.
“There’s a movement in management and ownership of boxing in Saudi, and it’s up to them what they want to do. If they don’t want to do Joshua-Wilder, maybe it goes somewhere else, but it’s one of the biggest fights in heavyweight boxing.”
Hearn also named two potential alternatives for Joshua, who’s looking to reclimb the heavyweight mountain following back-to-back title losses to Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua has since beaten Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius, with the latter being a last-minute replacement for long-time rival, Dillian Whyte.
“Filip Hrgovic, Andy Ruiz, I don’t know,” Hearn said when asked who could step in. “It needs to be a step up, but it will probably take place outside of the UK. He just boxed two fights at the O2 [Arena] in three months, four months.”
A trilogy fight with Ruiz Jr. could draw the most attention, with the Brit and Mexican having one win apiece. Ruiz Jr. shocked the boxing world in June 2019, beating then-WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO champion Joshua. But Ruiz Jr. lost the rematch by unanimous decision in Saudi Arabia later that year.