For the past 6 months, Anthony Joshua‘s future has been up in the air since his knockout loss against Daniel Dubois. Despite that, the buzz around his future still remains with fans excitedly waiting for his next move. In the last few months, several reports suggested that we might get the ultimate British boxing clash against Tyson Fury. However, amidst retirement and uncertainty, it seems like AJ‘s camp is looking in a different direction.
Just like Joshua, a year ago, after a brutal loss against Zhilei Zhang, Deontay Wilder‘s career came to a halt. After two consecutive losses, fans and experts thought it was his time. However, unexpectedly, the Bronze Bomber announced his return to the ring against Tyrrell Herndon on June 27. A return in which Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua are seemingly interested.
A fight that’s still worth its weight in gold
Earlier today, Boxing News released an interview with Frank Smith, CEO of Matchroom Boxing, on their YouTube channel. In a quite detailed conversation, Smith teased Anthony Joshua’s future, claiming that the Briton has several options. However, one fight that Smith personally loves would be against Deontay Wilder. “You know what fight I love if he comes through his warm-up? Deontay Wilder. You know that this sport is about narrative. It’s about buying into fights that people have an interest in, and that’s a fight that everyone would still have an interest in. Regardless of whether it didn’t happened 5 years ago, people still want to see it now. So hopefully he can come through his fight, that’s a great fight,” he stated.
However, the Bronze Bomber hasn’t won a fight since 2022 and has a 4-1 record in his last 5 outings. Furthermore, his return bout against Herndon is being considered as merely a tune-up fight. So, as things stand, questions about the Americans’ credibility are valid. The interviewer probed with the same question, asking, “Do you feel like he (Wilder) would need a bigger name to come back to on his resume than with all due respect, who will be facing at the end of this month?”
However, Smith thinks otherwise. For him, these are still two of the biggest names that will excite the fan. ” I think people look at the fight in front of them, and people see Joshua-Wilder is happening, everything of history’s really forgotten. Am I sitting here saying it’s going to be as big as it could have been? No. But it’s still a massive fight, you know, when it comes to the public buying into something, that fight is huge still,” Smith concluded.
Despite looking out of his depth against Daniel Dubois, fans are still waiting for any news regarding Joshua’s return. Since that September bout, fans have gotten nothing but speculation. That all changed recently when Eddie Hearn finally unveiled the blueprint for Anthony Joshua’s comeback, sidelining the Tyson Fury clash even further.
Anthony Joshua closing in on a blockbuster deal
In a recent chat with Boxing Scene, the Matchroom honcho stated, “We are actually discussing a two-fight deal with Riyadh Season.” Anthony Joshua’s last two bouts, a victory against Francis Ngannou and a loss against Dubois, came under the same banner. Both fights were insanely profitable, and reportedly, AJ earned a 7-figure purse for the IBF championship fight. So, it makes sense for him to go the same route.
“We want to box sometime this year, October, November, December,” Hearn added, talking about the timeline of the return. However, before locking in on a deal, the promoter wants to wait for the undisputed heavyweight clash result between Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois. And even though he is looking at Tyson Fury amidst return rumors, the team don’t want to deal with such uncertainty.
Even if that doesn’t work out, there are other options, and at the moment, AJ and his team are assessing everything. “We’ll see what happens with Dubois-Usyk, we’ll see what happens with Fury. If we don’t fight those guys [Dubois, Usyk, or Fury], we’ll fight, and then maybe we’ll follow one of those guys next year,” Hearn concluded. Upon being pressed further, the promoter finally revealed two names that are being considered: Dillian Whyte and Jared Anderson.
So, as things stand, we are further away from having an Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury clash. However, is Deontay Wilder the perfect replacement for that blockbuster bout? What do you think?
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