By Allan Fox: Deontay Wilder could be facing Anthony Joshua in a unification fight in September or December if Matchoom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn gets his way. Hearn says he’s putting together a deal in which Wilder and Joshua both take interim fights, and then if they come out victorious, then they’ll meet later this year in September or December, according to ESPN.
The idea is the offer will guarantee that Joshua will face Wilder after both fighters take interim fights. This is what Wilder has been asking for. He said he would fight Hearn’s fighter Dillian Whyte if he would give him a guarantee on the contract that he could Joshua in his next fight.
Hearn was not interested in doing that until now. Something has made Hearn change his mind. Hearn didn’t mention whether part of the offer he’s going to make to Wilder’s management is for his interim fight to be against Whyte (23-1, 17 KOs). If so, that would be a tough fight for Wilder to have to go through for him to get to the Joshua contest. It might be difficult for Hearn to get Wilder to agree to a fight against Whyte unless he’s willing to give him a large payday.
Hearn will be traveling to the U.S on April 22 to potentially meet with Wilder’s management to put together a fight between him and Joshua.
Wilder’s interim fight this summer could be against former heavyweight world title challenger Dominic Breazeale (19-1, 17 KOs), who chose not to agree to the IBF heavyweight title eliminator match against Kubrat Pulev.
Hearn wants Wilder to Joshua to sign for this deal now, so he can have things ready for them to face each other later year in a mega-clash. The Joshua-Wilder fight is the one that Joshua and the boxing world are interested in. The other opponents that Hearn has mentioned wanting to match against Joshua, Jarrell Miller, Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin, are far less appealing options. There are no other fights out there for Joshua that compares to a clash with the 6’7” Wilder, and that’s why Hearn is taking it very seriously in trying to put that fight together right now.
Hearn will be having a talk with the 28-year-old Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) this Thursday to discuss the fights that he wants to make for him. It’s thought that Hearn is going to line Joshua up for a title defense against unbeaten Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller in July either in New York or the UK. From there, if Joshua wins that fight, then he’ll face Wilder in later 2018 in a unification fight in the UK. If Hearn is serious about wanting to make the fight between Joshua and Wilder, then it can happen. Hearn is negotiating with Wilder’s manager Al Haymon, and he’s good success in the past when working with him. That’s a positive. As long as Hearn’s offer is a fair one to Wilder, the fight should take place. Wilder has never made the kind of huge money that he’ll make if Haymon can put the fight together with Joshua.
Hearn is starting to realize that if he doesn’t get the Joshua-Wilder fight done in 2018, he’ll have missed his big chance of making that fight. Joshua will be tied down with mandatory defenses in 2019, and Wilder might lose his WBC title against one of his contenders if he faces someone a little too good.
”I want to do a deal now,” Hearn said to ESPN.com. “Even if we both fight this summer, I am looking to reach an agreement on this fight prior to our next fight, where we have already signed to fight Wilder in December. Because of the fan demand, it’s important that the fight is actually made now even if they fight one more fight.”
Joshua beat WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker last Saturday night by a 12 round unanimous decision in a unification fight in Cardiff, Wales. It was the first time Joshua has been extended the entire 12 round distance since he turned pro in 2013. After the match was over, Joshua took advantage of the spotlight to tell his boxing fans that he wants to fight Wilder. It was a surprise move on Joshua’s part because it was thought that he would call out Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller next, because Wilder had been told that if he came to Cardiff, he wouldn’t be allowed inside the ring with Joshua. It seems that Joshua had a change of mind after the Parker fight was over. Had Wilder been there, he could have entered the ring and it would have been perfect to create the drama and hype for a fight between them later this year. The opportunity there for Wilder to enter the ring after Joshua’s interim fight in the summer against Miller or Povetkin.
Deontay Wilder is coming off of a 10th round life and death struggle against Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz on March 3 in New York. Wilder came close to being knocked out in the 7th round of that fight. Wilder was out on his feet at the start of the 8th round. The referee gave Wilder some extra time to recover by walking him over to side of the ring so that he could be examined by the ringside doctor. This is part of the rules by the New York Commission. Wilder was able to recover enough during that brief lull in the action to make it through the 8th round, and then come back to stop Ortiz in the 10th. It was still a close call for Wilder. Hearn and Joshua likely breathed a sigh of relief in seeing Wilder get through the fight, because if he’d lost, it would have taken interest away from an eventual Joshua-Wilder fight.
If the fight can get made, Wilder would be the biggest puncher of Joshua’s career. Some boxing fans feel that Wladimir Klitschko is a bigger puncher than Wilder. Even if Wladimir is a bigger puncher than Wilder with both hands, he wasn’t willing to use his power when he needed it the most in rounds 6 through 10. That’s when Wladimir had Joshua tired, hurt and on the brink of collapse. Wilder has a different type of temperament. When he gets his opponents hurt, he goes right after them and looks to stop them right away. Wladimir have lost his desire to finish his opponents once he got old. He wasn’t that way when he was younger and knocking everyone out.
We’re going to put an offer together this week and look to continue the conversation with Wilder’s team,” Hearn said to ESPN.com.
If Hearn is serious about wanting to make the Joshua vs. Wilder fight, then he’ll show that by getting the deal done while he still can. If Hearn misses out on this opportunity, he could be sorry for it later if Joshua or Wilder suffers losses. The interest would still be there by fans to see Wilder and Joshua battle it out, but it wouldn’t be the same kind of interest that’s there now. The winner of the Joshua-Wilder fight will hold all 4 of the heavyweight titles, which is something that hasn’t been done yet.
Hearn has already had a talk with Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza on Tuesday about the Joshua-Wilder fight, and he’d like to televise the match in September or December.
If Joshua does fight in the summer, the opponent for that fight will be unbeaten Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (20-0-1, 18 KOs) on August 25th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to Dan Rafael. Miller is popular enough to attract interest from the U.S and the UK boxing public. Miller will still need to do his part to get the Joshua fight by getting past former heavyweight world title challenger Johann Duhaupas (37-4, 24 KOs) in their fight on April 28 on HBO Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Miller-Duhaupas is the chief support for the Daniel Jacobs vs. Maciel Sulecki fight card. Hearn also promotes Jacobs, who he states is the best middleweight in the world today. Jacobs failed against Gennady Golovkin last year in March in a 12 round unanimous decision, but Hearn thinks he deserved the win.