Eddie Hearn has responded to Deontay Wilder’s request for Anthony Joshua to face him next.
Despite being ordered by the WBC to face Andy Ruiz Jr in a final eliminator for a shot at Tyson Fury’s heavyweight title, Wilder’s team have called for the long-awaited Joshua clash next. ‘AJ’ has been out of the ring since August – his second consecutive loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
His promoter, Hearn, has picked up on comments from Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel, and said that he would be reaching out to start discussions.
Having said that, he told the DAZN Boxing Show that he has a feeling that their intentions may be to sell another fight.
“Maybe they’re looking to push the Ruiz fight a little bit, or I don’t know, maybe they want it. I’m going to reach out to Shelly today. There’s a lot of options going around for Deontay Wilder. Firstly I have the Anthony Joshua fight, which is a massive fight for Deontay Wilder.
I also have the Dillian Whyte fight. I’d still love to make Whyte against Wilder, but happy to look at both of those fights.
Hearn went on to give a timeline for his fighter’s return.
At the moment, in AJ’s plan, he’s due to fight probably late March. We’re locking that in. Could that be Wilder? Possibly. Open to that conversation. In my head, because of the Andy Ruiz situations and everything, it was probably one that was one for the summer, or certainly 2023. But more than willing to have that conversation.
Finally, the Matchroom promoter teased a Dillian Whyte rematch first.
Obviously Dillian Whyte’s win at the weekend opens up that situation for Whyte against AJ, but we also understand that AJ against Deontay Wilder is one of the biggest fights in boxing.”
We’re told that there will be announcement for AJ’s next fight before Christmas, so fans won’t have long to wait to find out if a UK vs US clash can be made. If recent negotiations in the heavyweight division are anything to go by, they will be right to not get their hopes up.