Home Boxing News Have Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder Taken Away Some of Anthony Joshua’s...

Have Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder Taken Away Some of Anthony Joshua’s Spotlight?

Tyson Fury vs Wladimir Klitschko
It may not have been pretty to watch but Tyson Fury showed he is world class with a win over Wladimir Klitschko

We have to all accept it that the heavyweight division is on fire again. With two quality champions in their prime in IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua and WBC champion Deontay Wilder, as well as a sea of top contenders, prospects and former champions in the mix, there are loads of great matchups that can be made.

One fight that was heavily discussed for much of this year, perhaps more than any other heavyweight clash in recent memory, was a Joshua vs. Wilder matchup, but the fight never material-zed, at least not for this year. Joshua is now lined up with a decent match vs. Former champion Alexander Povetkin on September 22, but it is the recent news about Wilder that has everybody’s interest.

It now appears that Wilder could very well be facing off with former lineal champion Tyson Fury, who is back on the comeback trail this year. Fury fights for the second time this year when he meets Francesco Pianeta this weekend, on the 18th, and after that it looks a like a Wilder clash in Las Vegas could be next.

For Wilder, and the boxing world, this is huge news and a dandy of a fight too, one of the best to make at heavyweight.

Following the backlash that came from seeing the Joshua fight fall through, it was obvious that Wilder was burnt, blaming ‘AJ’ and his promoter Eddie Hearn for simply not wanting the fight. Fans became split online about the contest, and continue to debate with one another in boxing forums and social media about the matchup.

But instead of Wilder taking a soft touch for his next fight, it’s as if he has upstaged Joshua just a bit with such a big fight possibly looming. One thing that is for certain about fans of the sport of boxing, they don’t tend to have much patience for mismatches, and love to demand big showdowns. And the reality is that some feel like Joshua, in the aftermath of the Wilder negotiations, has shown a reluctance towards making the matchup.

Hearn is featuring his fighters on the new streaming service platform DAZN, which will host Joshua vs. Povetkin next month. There are some who say that Joshua’s alliance with DAZN could make it hard for a Wilder fight to take place, as he Alabama champion has been fighting exclusively on SHOWTIME in recent years.

Wilder won’t have that problem with Fury, who is promoted by Frank Warren. And what makes the Fury contest so compelling is how much pre-fight trash talk will be going on between the two men leading up to the fight. The pre-fight buzz alone will be worth the price of admission, as they say.

Hopefully Joshua and his team can realize the importance of stepping up and facing either Wilder or Fury, depending on the outcome of their fight if it comes off. Joshua has proven he is a worthy champion, but there are still many challenges ahead for him. It looks like his back could be up against the wall, as some of the spotlight has been taken from him with the Wilder-Fury announcement, and he needs to deliver vs. Povetkin.