Once upon a time, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder were unbeaten heavyweight champions poised for an undisputed title clash. Fast forward a few years and both are coming off fifth-round knockout losses and have four career defeats apiece.
Joshua’s stunning capitulation at the hands of IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois on Saturday has sent shockwaves through boxing’s blue-ribbon division. The former two-time unified champ was floored three times before walking onto a devastating right-hand counter punch that knocked him cold.
Eddie Hearn has predicted AJ’s next move would be a revenge assignment. “He’ll want to rematch Daniel Dubois,” said the Matchroom boss via iFL TV. “When any fighter gets beat, they just want a chance to avenge defeat.”
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To Hearns’ point, this has been a side story in Joshua’s career. When the Englishman was shockingly upset by Andy Ruiz in 2019, Joshua exercised a rematch clause and outpointed Ruiz in a direct return fight. Two years later, Joshua was outpointed by Oleksandr Usyk and went straight into the sequel. He lost again to the Ukrainian but performed far better.
A direct Dubois rematch is likely, but Hearn also included other options: “If [Tyson] Fury were to lose [to Usyk on December 21], they could say, right, let’s give the public one last hurrah – two big fights [between Fury and Joshua]. Or, if Fury wins, he could fight AJ for the unified heavyweight title. Or we fight someone else… Deontay Wilder?”
The Fury vs. Joshua fight is and always will be there, but Joshua vs. Wilder was recently considered dead and buried.
The Sporting News looks at the chances of us finally seeing a fight that’s been six years in the making.
Who would win Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder?
Who knows is the honest answer.
Both men could knock down the walls of a city and both are vulnerable to big punches. It could be a case of who hits who first.
Joshua is the better boxer of the two by distance and has more weapons. However, despite it being somewhat old now, Wilder “only has to be perfect for one second” with that right hand and it’s all over.
Today, I’d pick AJ and tomorrow it could be Wilder. That’s the intrigue with this one... and it’s still a money spinner.
Will Anthony Joshua fight Deontay Wilder?
There are so many moving parts at heavyweight right now and you don’t know what’s around the corner. The next confirmed superfight in the division is Usyk vs. Fury 2 and we’ll see what happens after that.
Personally, I believe that Joshua vs. Wilder is doomed forever. Why? Simply because there are degrees of decline. Joshua is taking a shellacking on social media because the Dubois defeat is so fresh in the memory. However, Wilder is 1-4 in his last five starts and has been knocked out three times.
Wilder needs Joshua a lot more than Joshua needs Wilder. Despite the beating Dubois just gave him, AJ, at this point, has better options than “The Bronze Bomber.”
Sorry to burst the AJ-Wilder balloon.
