An Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder fight may still be on the horizon despite negotiations taking a near-fatal blow recently.
The two former champions combine to make one of the most exciting match-ups the sport of boxing can offer, with the general consensus being that the judges need not show up.
With 65 knockouts between them – most coming from the famously powerful Wilder – it’s a struggle to see the fight as anything more than a shoot out.
Speaking back in May of this year, father of the WBC World Heavyweight champion, John Fury, said that Joshua would stop Wilder due to the damage his son had already caused him over three fights.
“AJ will knock [Wilder] out. And you know why? Because Deontay Wilder can’t take shots on the side of his head. Tyson, ‘The Gypsy King’ cracked his skull. If AJ lands in the same place, AJ knocks him out.”
In the space of just four months – and one Joshua fight against former Wilder opponent, Robert Helenius – Fury has reversed on his fight prediction. Speaking to Rob Moore, he said that Joshua taking the fight would be ‘suicide.’
“Unfortunately not, no. Wilder, for me, he’s not my favourite man in the world, a terrible sportsman, he’s like a big kid, you’ve seen his attitude when he loses. But can the man punch? Yes he can. Has he got a pair of nuts? Yes he has.
You can’t hang your chin out and let Wilder hit it, cause he’ll put you to sleep forever.
Only The Gypsy King, Tyson Fury can take Wilder power. Look at Helenius. Dead as a nit in about 30 seconds on a little six inch punch. He had a good old do with AJ until AJ caught him … How can you compare him to a man that would knock your brains out with either hand?
He’s not the most elusive person AJ is he? He’s not a lateral mover. His head don’t go anywhere. I think it would just be suicide for him.”
For a moment earlier in the year, it looked like all the predictions would be put to the test. Joshua and Wilder were both keen on the fight and so were, for a period, the boxing businessmen in Saudi Arabia.
With a shift in that promotional landscape, the lucrative promised fight offer is now reportedly off the table, and with that the match-up hangs by a thread.