Anthony Joshua & Deontay Wilder have agreed to a deal to meet in the first quarter of 2024 on March 9th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s a fight that is six years overdue, as the saying goes, ‘Better late than never.’
The only thing that stands in the way of the Joshua-Wilder fight from going down on March 9th is the fights they must win on December 23rd in Riyadh. Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) must beat Joseph Parker, and Joshua has to get past Otto Wallin in the main event.
According to Mike Coppinger, Joshua-Wilder has agreed on the money fight for their March 9th fight. There’s no word yet about the guaranteed purses the two will receive from the Saudis, but it’s expected to be a lot.
The winner will face the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk winner in a mega-fight. You can argue that Joshua vs. Wilder is a much better fight than the Fury-Usyk contest.
Heavyweight hustle
In terms of entertainment value, the Joshua-Wilder fight is as good as it gets on March 9th, but they just have to get through their preliminary fights on December 23rd.
It’s difficult for fans to get excited about the fight between Joshua and Wilder because it’s been mentioned so often by AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
These guys are both pretty old and no longer at the top of the division or anywhere close in the real sense. Wilder rarely fights, and Joshua stopped facing cutting-edge competition after his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk.
Their fight on March 9th won’t prove who’s the best in the division, but it’ll let fans know once and for all who the better fighter is between them at this late stage of their careers.
If they had fought a decade ago, that would have been far more compelling, as they were both fun to watch when they were firing on all cylinders.
The fight has continually been delayed, and people are skeptical about whether it will, even with the Saudis wanting it to happen. These are two older heavyweights with a lot of mileage on them, so you can’t count on them winning any tune-up level fights or getting through them without getting dinged up.
They’ve been discussing fighting since 2018, but the plans were wrecked when Joshua was upset by Andy Ruiz in 2019. It would have been ideal if Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, had set up the fight with Wilder after AJ avenged his loss to Ruiz, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Joshua & Wilder must win
“I see Joshua winning the fight if his mind is in the right place,” said Wilder to talkSPORT Boxing about AJ’s bout with Wallin on December 23rd.
“If he comes in there with self-confidence in himself and a will to win the motion to do what he got to do to get the job done, I see him winning the fight.
“But if he goes in there thinking about what’s next, especially when it’s pertaining to me or anything else outside of that, he might be finding himself in some big trouble.
On the day of the fight, we’re going to find out, but I do have him winning that fight, and everything serves its purpose right, and he does come out with a win. Once that happens, I come out with a win, then great things are happening after that, that’s for sure,” said Wilder.
“He has to handle his job, and I handle my business, and then we make business happen together.”
“Do you ideally fight Joshua and Francis Ngannou in 2024?” said Gareth A. Davies.
“It’s going to be one or the other. It could be, but I think it’s going to be one or the other,” said Wilder. “It could happen that way where I see both of them, but I know I’m going to get one of them [if Deontay beats Parker on December 23rd], that’s for sure.
“So the future is bright. I’m looking forward to whoever I get in the ring with. If it’s both of them or one, I’m grateful for it all,” said Deontay.
