Deontay Wilder is still eager to face Anthony Joshua later this year.
The ‘Bronze Bomber’ lost on points to Joseph Parker in December 2023 and that derailed his clash with Joshua, who had been signed for March this year, but he has since announced he will make a return against Zhilei Zhang on June 1st.
2
As part of the announcement, he has buried his rivalry with Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and will appear under the Matchroom Boxing banner in Saudi Arabia, which could reignite discussions over a meeting with Joshua.
But the American heavyweight is weighing his chances of restarting the mega-fight and is preparing a big statement this summer.
He told BBC Sport: “People will always want to see this fight no matter what.
“I put it in the 90s (percentage chance of the fight happening).
“I’ve always said it before, it would be a shame if we never fought.
“It only takes one fight, one night. June 1st will be that night, that one fight.
“Deontay Wilder hits (Zhang) in the head and the world goes crazy.
2
“Here we go again, Wilder versus Joshua. They want it (again).”
Wilder and Joshua have been on a collision course for several years since 2018, when the two men seemed destined to meet in an undisputed fight.
But talks never resulted in an official fight, with Joshua rejecting a $50 million offer from his rival’s team to accept the fight.
Both men looked set to fight this year, but Wilder’s loss effectively rendered their deal null and void.
Jodhua instead fought Francis Ngannou beating him with a comfortable knockout, and he is now awaiting news of his next outing.
A mega-money dustup could still make a lot of sense later in 2024, if Joshua is forced to wait for a chance to shoot the winner of Tyson Fury’s two potential fights with Oleksandr Usyk.
Boxing WhatsApp Channel
Sports
