By Steve Kim
It's not clear when heavyweight titans Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) and Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) will clash.
For the time being, both are circling one another but this is among the biggest bouts - literally and figuratively - that can be made in all of boxing.
Joshua, the IBF, IBO, WBA word heavyweight champion, attempts to unify his belt against WBO champion, Joseph Parker this Saturday at the Principlaity Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on Showtime.
Wilder is one of the few fighters in recent years to have never competed on HBO's airwaves, and still generates ratings of over 1 million viewers on Showtime.
Stephen Espinoza, the head of Showtime Sports, makes it clear that having both Joshua and Wilder under the Showtime banner expedites the process of bringing these two heavyweights into the ring together.
"It makes it significantly easier and from our perspective we at Showtime have built this fight," said Espinoza to BoxingScene.com.
"Anthony has only been seen in the United States on Showtime and Wilder, our next fight will be our 11th fight with Wilder and he's been seen on a couple of other platforms but the majority of his recent career has been on Showtime.
"So the excitement, energy and enthusiasm has largely been the result, certainly on their great performances, but also our investment into their careers and bringing them to the U.S. audience. For that reason it should be a Showtime pay-per-view. We've brought this to fruition and we deserve the opportunity to deliver completely."
This upcoming bout involving Joshua is the last of the multi-fight agreement between Matchroom Sports (which represents Joshua) and Showtime. There is rampant speculation that HBO will be making a play for the services of the 2012 Olympic gold medalist - who is among the most popular fighters in the game. But Showtime will certainly not go down without a fight.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
