By Barry Holbrook: Eddie Hearn says he “100%” wants to put together a fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder in 2023.
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) isn’t who Hearn has in mind for Joshua to fight in January, though, as he’s looking at Dillian Whyte or possibly Otto Wallin for his next contest.
The Wilder fight will happen later in the year at some point. It would obviously depend on how smoothly Joshua’s fight in January goes, be it Whyte or Wallin.
Hearn further states that he sees the Joshua-Wilder fight as a bigger one “globally” than the Joshua-Fury fight, which makes a lot of sense. Tyson Fury is a big star in the UK but not in the U.S. Moreover, Hearn states that boxing fans would be excited at seeing two huge punchers with power and hand speed in Joshua & Wilder.
“That’s really refreshing that he’s come out and said, ‘That’s the fight we want.’ Shelly [Finkel] has said as well,” said Eddie Hearn to the DAZN Boxing Show about Deontay Wilder being interested in fighting Anthony Joshua next.
“There’s been no talks. It’s very unlikely to happen in January or February when AJ is fighting, but as I’ve seen before, it could be the biggest fight in boxing,” said Hearn
Joshua vs. Wilder would definitely be a massive fight, particularly with AJ coming off an impressive win over Whyte. Wilder will obviously need to do his part by beating Andy Ruiz in the first quarter of 2023 to make the Joshua fight huge.
“I know the Fury fight is huge, but that fight [Joshua vs. Wilder] is a fight between two huge punchers, two very fast athletes, and it’s a fight that would resonate globally as one of the biggest fights in the sport,” said Hearn about the Joshua – Wilder clash.
“We 100% want that fight in 2023. Wilder’s team admitted that I reached out a couple of weeks ago or a month ago asking to start talks for that fight,” Hearn continued. “I didn’t get a reply, but at least publicly, they’re saying they want that fight. I believe them as well.
“I expect to pick up those discussions as we close the year. I know there’s a lot of talk of him [Wilder] fighting Andy Ruiz. I think it’s a tremendous fight. Whether it happens or not, I don’t know,” said Hearn.
