Deontay Wilder vs Anthony Joshua has hit yet another snag.
Deontay Wilder has poured doubts on a blockbuster showdown with Anthony Joshua by insisting he would prefer to face the winner of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua and Wilder are fighting different opponents on the same card in Saudi Arabia on December 23 with a view to facing each other provided they get through their respective bouts unscathed.
Joshua takes on Fury’s former foe Otto Wallin while Wilder squares off against ex-WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman recently declared that he is looking at the two fights as an unofficial elimination tournament to decide the next mandatory challenger for the green belt.
“In itself it is a natural WBC elimination tournament. You have Wilder, No 1, Joshua, you have Parker, you have Otto Wallin, all those are highly ranked in the WBC. After December 23 we’re going to see a different picture in the rankings,” Sulaiman said.
“It looks like Wilder and Joshua are on a collision course. That could very well be a final elimination to determine a mandatory contender for the WBC title. Unbelievable. That would be a dream come true for the fans.
“I am very happy to see the promoters collaborating, the managers, the fighters. Of course, there’s big money involved but you have to make it. You can dream of things, we have been dreaming for this and this is the perfect moment to get into another era of boxing. So we will be supporting as much as we can.”
If Joshua and Wilder get their hands raised at the back end of the month then they will likely be thrust into a final eliminator against each other. However, the ‘Bronze Bomber’ has his eyes set on the undisputed fight. “If you’ve got all the belts, you’re gonna have to fight me… That’s still my goal – wipe out the entire division,” said Wilder during a recent appearance on the Last Stand Podcast.
