As fans know, Eddie Hearn has stated how Anthony Joshua will fight again this year, after his August 20th rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, whether he wins or loses. No sooner did Hearn say this, did fighter and their promoters begin calling Joshua out. The cash cow of the heavyweight division due to his enormous following, a Joshua fight equals pound notes and dollar signs for the guy in the other corner.
Dmitry Salita has called out Joshua to settle “unfinished business” with Jarrell Miller, while a while back, Dillian Whyte spoke of possibly boxing a return with Joshua. Now, in speaking with The Sun, Shelly Finkel says a fight between Joshua and Deontay Wilder (who is, we hear soon-to-return) would be “enormous” even if Joshua loses the rematch with Usyk.
Fans have wanted to see Wilder and Joshua fight for some time now, and the long and ultimately fruitless series of talks way back when frustrated all of us. Both former heavyweight champions have suffered a defeat since then, but the fight remains one of the most attractive, even mouth-watering in the sport today.
And Finkel says “there are four big names” in the current heavyweight division: Tyson Fury, Usyk, Joshua and Wilder. And Finkel is keen on seeing a Wilder Vs. Joshua showdown no matter what the result in Saudi Arabia a week on Saturday.
“I believe that fight is enormous even if he loses to Usyk,” Finkel said of a Wilder-Joshua clash. “I don’t know anybody else’s numbers or money, it’s not my business but I heard that the Saudis put up a lot of money for Joshua to fight Usyk over there. I don’t believe Joshua versus Usyk now is as big as Fury versus Usyk – being for all the belts – the Saudis may step up. Who knows? So there’s a lot of moving pieces but what I do know is there’s four big names at this point and that is Fury, Usyk, Joshua and Deontay. This month, two of those guys will be fighting and that will clarify what the future is.”
As much as fans hope to see the Usyk-Joshua winner fight Fury, a Joshua-Wilder fight would perhaps be almost as welcome. We must wait and see how Wilder looks in his return, and a lot will depend on how badly Joshua is beaten by Usyk, if he is in fact beaten in the return – but there is no doubt, a Wilder-Joshua fight would be big. Or as Finkel says, it would be enormous.
