By Keith Idec
By Keith Idec
Boxing fans anxious to see an Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wilder showdown mostly disagree with when Eddie Hearn wants it to take place.
It’s hard to make a reasonable argument against where Hearn wants to bring it.
Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, told Sky Sports that Wembley Stadium in London is the logical location for a Joshua-Wilder heavyweight title unification fight. Joshua’s last fight there – a career-changing, 11th-round technical knockout of former champion Wladimir Klitschko – drew an enormous capacity crowd of roughly 90,000 to Wembley Stadium on April 29.
Hearn replied, “Yes,” when asked during a Sky Sports interview if a Wilder-Joshua fight belongs at Wembley Stadium next summer. Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs), a huge draw in the United Kingdom, and Hearn are expected to meet next week to begin mapping out Joshua’s schedule for 2018.
The unbeaten British superstar kept his perfect knockout record intact Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales, where he stopped Cameroon’s Carlos Takam (35-4-1, 27 KOs) in the 10th round of their IBF-mandated title fight. That bout helped draw a sellout crowd of approximately 78,000 to Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will make a mandatory defense of his WBC title in a rematch with former champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs), of Las Vegas, on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (Showtime; 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).
“We want three fights for Joshua next year,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “He has his WBA mandatory, which is decided in the next few weeks, Joseph Parker, Deontay Wilder and maybe Tyson Fury. Fury could be back in March or April, but he will want a fight or two to get back in the mix and also for people to start believing again. He talks a lot of positivity, but rarely is it shown. One fight for AJ next year definitely will be abroad, whether that is in the States, Africa or the Middle East.”
Hearn recognizes that fans want Joshua to fight Wilder sooner than he does, but Hearn is certain that it’ll make more economic sense to make the fight later than the beginning of 2018.
“The Wilder fight must happen,” Hearn said. “The promoter in me wants to make it a big as possible. At the moment, it is nowhere near as big as it could and should be. But I know what the fans want – they want it now.
“The good news for everybody is that Joshua will fight anyone. You haven’t got to worry about him saying no. He fought [then-IBF champion] Charles Martin in his 16th fight, Wladimir Klitschko in his 19th. He’s not afraid to step in or step up.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
