Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua have agreed to a two-fight deal for them to meet on March 9th in Saudi Arabia. The two will ink the contracts before their fights this Saturday night on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card.
There are no particulars about how much money the former heavyweight champions Deontay and Joshua will get for the two-fight deal, but it’s expected to be a massive windfall for the wealthy ex-champs.
The second Joshua vs. Wilder fight will likely be later in the year in 2024 to give them time to rest from their March 9th fight and build the promotion for their rematch.
Joshua-Wilder two-fight deal in Saudi
“The fight is contingent on Joshua and Wilder not losing their bouts on the “Day of Reckoning” mega card,” said Dan Rafael on his substack site.
It makes sense for Joshua and Wilder to fight twice next year, given that Tyson Fury won’t be free to fight either of them due to his clash against Oleksandr Usyk having a rematch clause. If Fury does fight three times next year, the third fight will likely be against Francis Ngannou.
Wilder is fighting former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker this Saturday, December 23rd, at the Kingdom Hall Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) meets Otto Wallin in the top of the bill on the card in a twelve round fight.
Joshua’s nerves
“There’s no turning back now. I signed up for this seven weeks ago. I’ve known about this. If nerves were going to override that warrior mindset, I wouldn’t sign up for this,” said Anthony Joshua to Matchroom Boxing, talking about his bout this Saturday night against Otto Wallin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“I’ve been doing this for 16 years from amateurs. I can’t get nervous anymore. I’m fully confident in myself and aware of what my job is. I’ve dedicated myself to a different lifestyle, which is one of a fighter. There’s no time for nerves. If you have nerves, you’re going to doubt yourself. Just be fully committed to the cause,” said Joshua.
It’s okay if Joshua is nervous about his fight against Wallin on Saturday night because he has a right to be. He will lose a treasure chamber full of money if he gets beaten by Wallin (26-1, 14 KOs), and his career could be over if he gets knocked out. There’s too much money on the line for Joshua not to be nervous.
“A good fighter is an active fighter. This is your third fight in nine months,” said Ade Oladipo to Joshua. “That’s impressive. That’s almost like going old school. We normally don’t see that with heavyweights nowadays.”
Will history repeat itself?
“Yeah, times have changed. I was listening to an interview about how fighters used to fight. Yeah, you know. I don’t want to go back in history. Three times is good,” said Joshua. “[Joseph] Parker has fought four times this year, which is really good.”
That would be asking a lot of Joshua for him to fight three times in 2024 because he’s likely to take a lot of punishment in his two fights with Wilder. If Joshua gets poleaxed by Wilder, he’s going to need time to clear his head after the knockout loss. Getting KO’d twice by Deontay would be even worse for AJ, making it foolhardy for him to go old school and slip in a third fight next year.
“The main thing about being active is your body gets toughened and hardened,” said Joshua. “You go through training camps, and your body gets solid, your mind gets solid, and your jaw gets stronger from taking shots in sparring. You get really war-ready. That’s the main thing about staying active.
“Secondly, not every camp is going to be perfect, but the more times you’re in training, the more times you’re staying consistent, the better you’re going to get. No one broke a record in three months in one training camp.”
Hopefully, Joshua doesn’t leave his fight inside training camp and come into his bouts with Wilder half-stunned, ready to fall over from the first right hand he nails him with. That won’t do him any good if he’s overtrained.
“It takes years and years and years of training and getting it right,” said Joshua. “That’s why being active is important because you spend years working on your craft, and Saturday night, I think this is my eleventh year as a pro.”
Joshua has had a full career since turning professional in 2013, but he looks like he’s been fading fast since his knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019. The punishment Joshua took in his fight with Wladimir Klitschko in 2017 first fight with Ruiz in 2019 it seemed to take something out of him, leaving the shell that Oleksandr Usyk beat twice.
“I’m fully confident. There’s no learning. ‘He’s still learning’ and all this stuff. If I’m not good enough now, I’ll never be. I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to do my job. I’m looking forward to it,” said Joshua.
