Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder appears on the surface to be dead once again, but the British superstar still thinks that blockbusting superfight could happen – and he’s outlined just why.
AJ and ‘The Bronze Bomber’ had signed a two-fight deal, with the first bout set to take place in Saudi Arabia on March 9. All they needed to do was avoid defeat in their bouts on that massive ‘Day of Reckoning’ card in Riyadh last Saturday night.
Joshua more than kept up his end of the bargain by taking Wallin apart in five one-sided rounds, but Wilder came unstuck as he dropped a conclusive decision to former WBO heavyweight king Joseph Parker.
Anthony Joshua on Wilder superfight
For now, at least, the long-awaited Joshua vs Wilder dream appears to be in tatters, but Joshua isn’t so sure.
He said: “I’m not too sure what can happen from here, but I’m sure from a fan perspective, they’ll be more annoyed. For me I always understand how this game is, you never know this is elite level boxing, the ‘Day of Reckoning’ was an amazing card. Wilder just came up short but he’ll live to fight another day, me and him can still get it on, we can still get it cracking.
“I believe I’m a massive threat, I still think Wilder’s a threat and I still think it does amazing numbers if we get it on. But I’ll leave that down to my management, trainers promoters to make the decision. I’m down to fight anyone, whenever and whoever.”
Joshua fought three times in 2023 – registering three wins – and it appears he will look to be as active in 2024. Filip Hrgovic (potentially for the IBF heavyweight title after Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk) could be an option in March. But AJ is already looking ahead to a much much bigger prize. That dream of a showdown with Fury.
When asked who he would rather fight, AJ said: “100 percent Tyson Fury, but I’m not dodging Hrgovic by the way. I’ll fight Hrgovic as well.”
