Eddie Hearn feels it’s now very likely we fans will have to wait until next year to see the guaranteed heavyweight explosion that is Anthony Joshua Vs. Deontay Wilder. Hearn, speaking with Boxing Social, said the fight – dependant on Joshua coming through okay on August 12th when he boxes Dillian Whyte in a rematch – is likely for January.
Hearn said he is far from sure the idea of a Tyson Fury Vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight takes place on the same night, as has been suggested. Obviously, the Joshua-Wilder fight is the one Hearn is most concerned with, and he has spoken again about how dangerous the Whyte fight is for AJ.
“I think it [Joshua-Wilder] will be January, I’m not sure whether Fury-Usyk gets made [on the same card],” Hearn said. “I don’t expect the Ngannou fight will be so taxing [for Fury] that he can’t fight in January. But at the same time he would have done a training camp and also you don’t know if he wants the fight, which lots of people suggest he doesn’t. The finalisation of the [AJ Vs.] Wilder fight is on hold until the Saudis see what happens in August 12 and that’s the risk that we’re in. It’s a big risk, is it the right risk? We’ll find out, AJ wanted a real fight, he wasn’t motivated to take a lesser, smaller fight, but the Wilder fight will be dependent on victory on August 12.”
Plenty of fans have given up on ever seeing Fury fight Usyk, yet the Joshua-Wilder fight does look like the real deal. If Joshua beats Whyte. We’ve waited a long time to see Wilder and Joshua go at it, so another month won’t make too much difference. However, the risk factor attached to the Whyte rematch aside, plenty of fans have an ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ attitude when it comes to the battle of former heavyweight champions.
As for what Wilder will do as he waits for the big one with Joshua, we don’t know if he will take a tune-up fight of his own, or if he will sit out the rest of the year. If so, Wilder will not have fought since October of 2022, this some 15 months of inactivity, when going into the Joshua fight if it does happen in January of 2024. This is far from ideal, as all fans will agree.
For now, the only fight that is 100-percent nailed down is the Joshua-Whyte II clash which will happen next month. It has certainly been a pretty slow year for the heavyweights here in 2023.
