By Jake Tiernan: A deflated-sounding Eddie Hearn says the Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder heavyweight clash might be moved to “March or April” in Las Vegas or Wembley if the Saudis choose not to stage the fight in their country.
Hearn states that the terms are agreed for the Joshua-Wilder mega-fight, but with the recent changes with the Saudis, who appear to have shifted their interest to crossover fights involving Tyson Fury fighting MMA guys and Youtubers fighting boxers, the AJ vs. Deontay doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in Saudi Arabia.
If Joshua is willing to go the crossover circus junk by fighting MMA guys like Fury is doing, perhaps the Saudis will show interest in having him join the fun. The real question is, how far is Joshua & Hearn willing to go to make money?
As for why the Saudis are seemingly no longer interested in staging this fight, it could be many things. These are the obvious reasons:
- Joshua’s recent timid performances against Robert Helenious and Jermaine Franklin
- AJ’s loss of popularity
- Weak opposition
- Deontay’s inactivity
Instead of the Joshua-Wilder fight happening next, Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) could take a warmup bout in November, and Joshua taking a fight in December to keep busy.
As for who Joshua would fight, it’s like a fringe-level opponent with little punching power, who he can continue to work on the things his new coach, Derrick James, is teaching him.
“There is a chance that AJ will fight in December if we can’t lock that in for January, maybe we’ll push it to March or April, and maybe we’ll look at alternative venues,” said Eddie Hearn to talkSPORT Boxing about Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder, which doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in Saudi Arabia.
Fans on social media doubt that Joshua & Wilder will ever fight because Hearrn has been saying it will happen for months, and hasn’t transpired.
At this point, it would be better if Hearn gave up and instead focused his energy on putting together fights for Joshua that are easier to make.
Still, Hearn is doggedly persistent in making the Joshua-Wilder fight, even with the Saudi money no longer on the table.
“There are other sites that want that fight. Only last night, we were looking at the numbers for Las Vegas, thinking, ‘Wow, Joshua against Wilder in Las Vegas, maybe that will be something that will be remembered for a long time,” said Hearn.
