Boxing
Deontay Wilder's manager insists he still wants 'enormous' Anthony Joshua fight
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Deontay Wilder’s manager is keen to revisit a fight with Anthony Joshua - six years after the pair dominated the heavyweight division.
In 2019, Wilder held the WBC title whilst Joshua ruled as unified champion of the WBO, WBA, and IBF, pitting the duo on a collision course for undisputed status. Offers were made for the two to meet, only for Wilder to face Luis Ortiz before setting up a rematch with Tyson Fury.
Fast forward to 2025 and neither fighter holds a world title. Wilder’s record is now 44-4-1 (43 KOs), while Joshua’s professional CV stands at 28-4 (25 KOs). Wilder returned to the ring earlier this year, defeating Tyrrell Anthony Herndon with a seventh-round knockout in Kansas, and is now looking for his next opponent.
"I'm going to see him next week in New York,” Shelly Finkel, manager of Wilder, told Box Nation.
"He is training, and he is going to be fighting again at the end of the year or early next (year).
“We’d like - our first choice [of opponent] always would be (Anthony) Joshua.”
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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Joshua has been sidelined since undergoing surgery on an elbow issue, but the Brit’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has suggested he might be able to squeeze a fight in before the end of 2025. The former Olympic champion has not fought since losing to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Citing Joshua as the priority, Finkel also said that his client would not turn down a fight with undisputed champion, Oleksandr Usyk.
He added: “But if we can’t get Joshua — if we could get (Oleksandr) Usyk, we’d fight him.
"I believe [a fight with Joshua] is the biggest fight for him.
"And it’s the fight of the last decade, hopefully it’s this one.”
Of course, just like a theoretical bout between Joshua and fellow Brit Fury, a Wilder-Joshua showdown does not have the same appeal as it would have back in 2019. However, Finkel was confident that the pair would be able to make good money from sharing a ring.
Finkel continued: "[The fight is] not as big as it was, but it’s enormous. Enormous.
"It would sell out any of the smaller arenas, and maybe with a good undercard, it could sell out a Wembley."
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