By Jake Tiernan: Promoter Frank Warren says the Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder fight won’t be happening, and he’d like for AJ to face Daniel Dubois. He feels that would sell “anywhere” and would allow them to prove who has the biggest heart.
It’s unclear whether Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, would be on board with the idea of AJ facing the heavy-handed Dubois because there would be a lot of risk involved, and the money that could be made from that fight wouldn’t compare to what he could get fighting Deontay.
Warren says that they thought they were going to get for the Joshua-Wilder fight isn’t achievable anywhere. Hearn has been waiting on the Saudis to come up with the contract for the Joshua-Wilder fight, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.
What is Hearn waiting on?
Eddie said this week that he’ll wait a little while longer on the Saudis, and if nothing happens, he’ll look for another location to stage the Joshua vs. Wilder fight.
What’s unclear is why Hearn is waiting. Ideally, he should contact the Saudis to find out if they’re still interested. If not, move the fight to Wembley Stadium. It’ll still sell but won’t make as much money as he had been expecting to get from the Saudis.
“The Deontay Wilder & Anthony Joshua situation. I know their people had conversations and thought that it would happen, but I never thought it would happen, and it’s not,” said Frank Warren to iFL TV about the Anthony Joshua vs.Deontay Wilder fight, which is not looking good right now.
It’s pretty clear that the Saudis have moved on and will be focusing on putting Tyson Fury’s fights on for the time being. Whether the Saudis will continue to do boxing events in the future remains to be seen.
If not, things will go back to where they were before. Joshua, Hearn., Oleksandr Usyk & Andy Ruiz should be happy they made the money they did from the Saudi events.
Fury doesn’t have much time left
As for the 35-year-old Fury, he’s getting old, and he doesn’t have much time left. If the Saudis are going to be banking their future on him, it won’t last. Fury has aged and hasn’t had a credible fight since his trilogy match with Deontay Wilder in 2021.
That was a long time ago, and Fury has been facing cream-puff opposition from England ever since and avoiding the killers in the heavyweight division.
When you haven’t faced A-level opposition for two years and look as old & fat as Fury, you can’t call him the #1 heavyweight in the division. In any sport, you have to continue proving your #1 year after year, and if you don’t do that every year, you’re old news.
“The problem is, the amount of money they felt they were going to get paid or they heard they were going to get paid, they’re not going to achieve that anywhere. That’s not going to happen.
“I’ll tell you a good fight if that doesn’t happen. You know what would be a good fight in the UK and people would buy tickets to watch it and we’ll see who is the biggest puncher and who has got the biggest heart? Him [Joshua] and Daniel Dubois.
“That would sell out anywhere. Before you start your hates, that would determine who has got the biggest heart, who would grit their teeth. You can’t say it’s not going to sell. It would sell. It’s a big fight.
“What we’re hearing from Matchroom is every other week or every two weeks, they were going to announce it. We are now hitting mid-December. It ain’t going to happen,” said Warren about the Joshua vs. Wilder fight.
