With talks regarding a Deontay Wilder-Anthony Joshua fight in the Middle East having either “slowed” or stopped entirely, Eddie Hearn has been speaking about what might be next for his fighter should the big one not happen. With members of Tyson Fury’s camp saying the Wilder-Joshua fight is “dead,” this as things have shifted quite a bit in Saudi, Hearn says he will wait and see if the Wilder fight still has legs.
Hearn has said numerous times that from Joshua’s side of things the Wilder fight was agreed, terms and all, but that “until the money is put in place, the fight’s not happening.” Speaking with Boxing Social, Hearn said Joshua will not wait around forever and that he could fight in December if the Wilder fight is not done.
And Hearn mentioned a familiar name as far as who AJ could perhaps fight in December.
“For us, we’ve agreed terms for Joshua-Wilder but until we receive a contract the fight is not happening,” Hearn said. “Obviously politically it sounds as though there is a lot going on (in the Middle East) but for us we’re ready to take that fight. Wilder’s team are ready to take that fight, everybody has agreed the terms, but until the money is put in place, the fight’s not happening. It doesn’t just have to happen in Saudi Arabia, there are other talks about other countries it could take place in. Regarding Saudi, it’s up to them for what they want to do. If they don’t want to do Joshua-Wilder, maybe it goes somewhere else.”
Or maybe AJ fights someone else:
“If we don’t get something sorted soon we’ll probably see AJ fight in December at a level above where he’s been fighting because he wants to stay active,” Hearn continued. “We’ve been patient for them (the Saudis) and we’ve agreed everything but it’s slow. Filip Hrgovic, Andy Ruiz, I don’t know [who AJ might fight in December], but it needs to be a step up.”
Hrgovic believes he will be getting his earned shot at Usyk next, so that potentially leaves Ruiz for Joshua. The two former champs are currently all-even at 1-1, but are fans interested in seeing the rubber-match? Ruiz as we know blew it big time in the return with AJ, this when “The Destroyer” came into the fight grossly out of shape and very much overweight. But an in-shape, motivated Ruiz? Who knows, maybe there is enough of a sense of unfinished business here for fans to buy into a Joshua-Ruiz III?
We still want to see the big, guaranteed heavyweight explosion that is Wilder-Joshua, but things ain’t looking too good. Plenty of fans said all along they didn’t believe they’d ever get to see Joshua and Wilder rumble. And maybe these folks were right all along.