Deontay Wilder has confirmed that he’ll next be in the ring against Anthony Joshua, seemingly skipping any tune-up fights beforehand.
The American knockout artist has fought one round – a knockout of Robert Helenius – since a loss to Tyson Fury in October 2021. Despite that, his team remain confident that he’s ready to step straight in with his British rival.
Joshua has been more active, having bounced back from a second loss to Oleksandr Usyk with a decision win over Jermaine Franklin before his own stoppage over Helenius.
The path is now clear for the two former champions to finally fight, and all roads lead to Saudi Arabia in early 2024.
Speaking to ES News, Wilder confirmed that he would be starting camp for that soon before revealing that it may just be the first of two instalments.
“Everybody know about the Joshua situation. That is serious. That’s real. That is one that’s up next. We’re looking forward to that, I’ll be getting in camp real soon. I’ll be promoting it within the next few months or so. Finally get that showdown on.
I think it’s gonna be a great, great fight between me and him. I’m actually working on a two-fight deal with me and Joshua, one up in Saudi Arabia and the other one up in the Motherland, Africa.”
The American heavyweight is perhaps best known for his thrilling trilogy with Tyson Fury. Depending on the results of the fights with Joshua, he could feature in another before his career is over and done with.
He has made it clear that a fight in Africa is on his boxing bucket list, and there’s no current match-up better suited to that particular plan.
The first fight needs to be made for any of this talk to continue, and Joshua recently revealed that the boxing businessmen in Saudi are still keen on staging another huge heavyweight bout on the same card.