Deontay Wilder Makes his Plea for a Fight With Anthony Joshua
Once again, the boxing world is flooded with talk of a battle between former unified heavyweight champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) and ex-WBC Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs). But is it just another case of a potential fight being all talk, only for the fight to never happen?
Wilder went to social media to express how it needs to happen for legacy’s sake. According to the former WBC heavyweight champion, he’s calling for himself and AJ to come together and hammer out a deal.
“Anthony, you’re hearing it from the horse’s mouth, himself. I’m here; I’m ready to go . . . Let’s make this the best time of our lives. It would be a major disaster if we would never be able to get into the ring and put our stamp down in history.
When people think about great fights, I want them to think about us. Being able to do that, we got to get into the ring. That’s what it’s all about.”
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Wilder’s callout came off as sincere and honest. But we’ve been down this road before. They spent all of 2018 and early 2019 talking about fighting one another. However, ongoing negotiations never resulted in a concrete and finalized deal due to disagreements over who would receive the bulk of a percentage split.
Talks heated up again about them facing each other. In August 2023, Wilder claimed he was working on a two-fight deal with Joshua. But as of this writing, nothing has been finalized.
Joshua versus Wilder has lost much of its luster due to their separate setbacks. But were they to meet, it’s still a big event for the sport. A matchup between the two features arguably the two biggest punchers in the heavyweight division. Odds are that the fight would end in a knockout.
But here’s the problem. There’s been several years of taunts, threats, and rumors, and they’ve still yet to fight. As a result, many in the boxing community have become jaded. It would be great if it finally happened. But at this point, for both fighters, talk has become cheap.
