Is Joshua Vs. Wilder No Longer Attractive?

Eddie Hearn is keeping a close eye on Deontay Wilder’s upcoming return to the ring amid links to the Anthony Joshua fight, but do fans still want to see it? 

Wilder, the former WBC Heavyweight Champion, is set to face Tyrrell Herndon on June 27. He looks to bounce back from consecutive losses to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang in his last fight. Wilder’s last victory came in 2022 against Robert Helenius, but since then, questions have emerged about whether he remains the same fighter after his trilogy with Tyson Fury. He has managed just one win in his last four outings under the guidance of trainer Malik Scott. Scott has shut down any talk of retirement, insisting that a clash with Joshua remains in their sights. Hearn echoed those sentiments, hoping Wilder ‘can start looking good again.’

Hearn Reacts

“But hopefully he can win well and, you know, we’d signed to fight Deontay Wilder, we were announcing it an hour in Saudi Arabia; he lost to Joseph Parker… Of he keeps winning maybe people can talk about [the Joshua] fight again. So it’s definitely a fight that I don’t rule out but I think people don’t really give Wilder much shot against AJ right now, but hopefully he can start looking good again. 

“It’s funny how people can be so fearful of a fighter and then all of the sudden have no fear whatsoever. I don’t think anybody would now fear fighting Deontay Wilder, where at a point everybody thought ‘oh my, this guy is the biggest puncher in the history of the sport,” and now everyone wants to fight him. So we shall see,” Hearn said 

Is It Too Late?

The Wilder-Joshua fight is arguably past its sell-by date. The fight was first entertained around 2018-19 when it would have been for the Undisputed Heavyweight Title. Joshua was the Unified Heavyweight Champion, while Wilder held the WBC belt. Reports indicated Wilder’s team made a $50 million offer, but it never saw a fight materialize.

Joshua eventually lost his title to Oleksandr Usyk, while Wilder came unstuck against Tyson Fury. The pair then signed a deal to fight each other, provided they beat their respective opponents, Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker. Joshua stopped Wallin in impressive fashion, but Wilder lost out to Parker. Since then, both fighters have suffered additional losses. Joshua was knocked out by Daniel Dubois, where Wilder got stopped by Zhang. Is Wilder Joshua vs. Wilder a fight that simply got away.