Promoter Eddie Hearn is bullish that the fight between his boxer Anthony Joshua 25-3 (22) and Deontay Wilder 43-2-1 (42) will take place in Saudi Arabia in December.
England’s Joshua, 33, is a former two-time WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion. The 37-year-old Wilder of America in an ex-WBC heavyweight champion. The winner will put themselves in the box seat for another world title crack.
The Saudi contingent has put forward a formal offer, but official contracts are yet to be received by either side.
“Subject to a formal contract being sent, we’re very confident that fight gets made. I can’t speak on behalf of Deontay Wilder, but I’m very confident he’ll be accepting the money and the deal that comes through from Saudi Arabia,” Matchroom Boxing boss Hearn told iFL TV.
“For us, it’s making sure that all of our contracts are respected. That probably means a multi-platform deal around that night. We can’t breach our agreements, but I don’t think that it will be an issue.
“We have an offer without a contract. So we need to wait on that contract.”
The Saudis originally wanted to host a heavyweight doubleheader with WBC champ Tyson Fury 33-0-1 (24) versus WBA, WBO and IBF boss Oleksandr Usyk 20-0 (13) topping the card, but this seems increasingly unlikely with the erratic Fury seemingly changing his future plans every other day
The plan for Joshua is to return to the ring in September for a warm-up bout in what will just be his second fight under new trainer Derrick James ahead of the proposed December bout.
Similarly, Wilder is looking to step back in the ring in August or September after boxing less than one round in the past two years.
Speaking at a fight card in Atlanta, Wilder said: “It’s been a bit of a dilemma what path to take and what is available and what is not. There’s so many different things in the fight game. This business is, I always say, it’s one of the most difficult businesses around because it’s unstructured. It’s so many different directions business-wise. We gonna narrow it down. People should see me back, maybe, August; no later than September.”
There has been talk of Wilder facing former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a two fight series – one under boxing rules, the other under MMA rules.
“I’ve thought about it many a time,” Wilder said. “With Ngannou, we were talking about getting together. You always see the MMA guys crossing over, but you never see the boxers crossing over, so I wanted to make it more interesting for the fans… [I asked Ngannou] ‘How about you come to my backyard and after we handle business I come to yours.’ And I really meant that. So things are still up in the air. I have seen myself on this side of the field. People would be very impressed with what I can do, my abilities.”
