It’s the biggest heavyweight fight that can be made today, and everyone has an opinion on how it will go when WBC heavyweight ruler Deontay Wilder rumbles with WBA/IBF champ Anthony Joshua.
With talks currently underway in New York between Eddie Hearn and Shelly Finkel and Al Haymon, fans are getting excitedly optimistic, feeling the Super-Fight will actually happen next summer. Fans and experts are about 50/50 over who wins but one man’s pick may come as something of a surprise.
Top British promoter Frank Warren, writing in his column for The Star, says he leans towards Wilder, 39-0(38) to topple Joshua, 20-0(20).
“When Wilder won the world title against Bermane Stiverne in 2015, I thought he really boxed well and showed he had a very strong engine,” writes Warren. “He showed heart and he took a good few punches from Stiverne on the chin. But, in his subsequent fights he has looked very, very average. He has knocked guys out, but he hasn’t looked fantastic. He could now face Joshua, who hasn’t got a great chin despite being a good puncher. Who knows what will happen if he explodes one of his bombs on Wilder? If he does, he may knock him over – but it might change if Wilder was to get a big punch in. I feel anyone who catches Joshua would cause him a problem. It would be close, but my money would be on Wilder.”
Warren points out how Joshua was wobbled by Dillian Whyte, decked by Klitschko and how “even in his last fight (Vs. Carlos Takam) he got caught a couple of times.” Is it actually fair to say both Joshua AND Wilder have something of a suspect chin? Will this fight come down to that most basic of things: whoever lands a good shot first wins?
Maybe, and Warren, a shrewd observer, is leaning towards Wilder getting in first. For what it’s worth, that’s the pick here as well. It will absolutely be bombs away while it lasts, but don’t bet on Wilder-Joshua lasting very long at all.