AJ wants Wilder next

I think if it was going to happen mate it would have happened by now.
I think they tried to do something ans a few offers were made but whether it was Wilder or more likely his handlers they didn't want that smoke. I'm not sure Wilder comes back and it certainly won't be against the top guys in the division.
I think he just believed in his own hype and never developed as a fighter. or accepted his first loss to Fury and got dragged down the excuse route which shows to me a weak mind and fragile ego. He had a hard punch and that was it. really he over achieved as far as I'm concerned and wish him well moving forward whatever he chooses.

 

Even despite both there losses there is still so much interest in this fight. Both fighters with all there documented flaws but Wilder certainly more effective around 215lbs than bulking up.

 

Yeah I agree mate. It was just wishful thinking on my part. There's probably too many negative variables now for it to ever realisticly happen.

We don't even know for sure if Wilders ever gonna fight again.

 

Defo the fans interest is still there for sure . As I've already mentioned I'd love to see it.

And I agree on Wilders optimal fighting weight being around 215lb. He gained zero benefit whatsoever bulking up against Fury in fights 2 & more so fight 3.

His natural body shape & build kinda reminds me of a bigger sized Tommy Hearns.

 

His point stands.

There is no chance AJ-Wilder hapens next.Just using a name for promotion.

 

This fight makes more money than the usyk rematch imo, plus I think wilder has AJ’s number and this is coming from an AJ fan

50/50 fight

 

I'll just focus on Joshua first.

Eddie Hearn said the other day that they are waiting to fight Usyk. That's the plan. They can't fight an interim fight because then Joshua loses his title shot. Joshua isn't rated by the WBO. And he is rated down around #5 by the IBF and WBA. So he needs to fight Usyk to get a crack at the three belts any time soon.

If Usyk holds on to all the belts and Joshua fights someone else first, Usyk doesn't have to honor the rematch and can fight anyone else.

That said, if something bad happens to Usyk, and he can't fight, and Joshua needs to move on the four people mentioned by Hearn are interesting. I just don't see Joshua taking an interim fight unless worst case scenario happens to Usyk.

But, if he does choose an interim fight, here are the four people mentioned by Hearn.

1. Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder

Joshua-Wilder would be the biggest fight of any mentioned. They could stage it in the UK or the US and it would arguably be seen as a bigger more fan-friendly fight, despite it being a non-title bout, than the Fury-Whyte title fight.

Everyone - even casual fans - would like to see this. It may be the biggest non-title fight in the heavyweight division since ... Dempsey-Sharkey. Joshua could even sign to fight Wilder and make more money than he likely could fighting a rematch with Usyk.

That said, if Joshua is using this interim fight to stay sharp before a rematch with Usyk (should that occur), fighting Wilder makes ZERO sense. Wilder fights nothing like Usyk. He isn't a southpaw. He isn't a smooth boxer. He has huge one-punch power. And he's a half a foot taller than Usyk. You don't prepare for Usyk by fighting Wilder. You wouldn't even hire a guy who fought like Wilder to spar with to prepare for Usyk.

I'd LOVE to see this fight. But Hearn has said Joshua-Wilder is coming for about five years now ... and we've yet to see it. So I'm not holding my breath. To me, this is the least-likely fight of the four mentioned to happen.

2. Anthony Joshua-Joe Joyce

Joshua-Joyce would be a huge fight in the UK. Joyce is the top WBO contender. Joshua isn't rated by the WBO. Joyce seems willing to risk his WBO top rating. This, IMO, makes more sense. If something happens to Usyk, and all the belts go vacant, Joshua needs to be in a position to fight for one of the vacant belts. He isn't in that position now in ANY org. So even by signing to fight Joyce, this could become (in a worst case scenario for Usyk), a vacant WBO title fight. And it would be a huge fight in the UK. Not so much in the US. No casuals in the US would be interested. But it would be a very entertaining matchup.

3. Anthony Joshua-Luis Ortiz

Joshua-Ortiz, to me, makes THE MOST SENSE if you are Joshua and Hearn and you are still interested in Joshua crashing the US market and actually using this fight to prepare for a rematch with Usyk.

Ortiz is still rated #2 by the IBF. He suffered a broken hand when he beat Martin, so he couldn't take the Hrgovic fight (which was originally scheduled for March). Ortiz is a southpaw, so Joshua could practice his "new skills" against Ortiz.

Joshua is rated #5 by the IBF. Regardless of the Hrgovic-Zhang matchup, if Joshua and Ortiz signed to fight, it would, at worst, allow Joshua (should he beat Ortiz) to fight for a vacant IBF title against the Hrgovic-Zhang winner. Hrgovic fights on DAZN, too, so that would make a vacant IBF title fight between Joshua and Hrgovic a big fall fight for DAZN.

They could also stage Joshua-Ortiz in the US, and Latino fans would jump on this. If Joshua wants to make a big splash in the US, get into title position, and practice against a southpaw, this is the fight to make. Ortiz said yesterday he'd do it.

Joshua-Ortiz checks all the boxes. The only problem with him is Ortiz can punch. And, frankly, that may be the only thing that prevents this fight from happening.

4. Joshua-Wallin

By every measure, this is the safest option for Joshua. Wallin has no power. Wallin is a southpaw. Wallin has a history with Fury (and Joshua likes to hold up how well he does against common opponents - which is why he was so freaked when Wilder destroyed Breazeale). Joshua beat Wallin as an amateur, so he has no fear. And Wallin looked like complete garbage in his last outing. He arguably didn't even win his eight-rounder.

If Joshua is still mentally fragile and intends to fight Usyk again, fighting Otto Wallin next is the safest option. And, if he stops Wallin, it would give Joshua's damaged ego a much needed boost and give him something he could taunt Fury with.


So, after looking over that list, and ignoring Eddie Hearn's chest thumping, if Joshua fights anyone, I'd say Wallin is option1, option 2, option 3 and option 4 ... Ortiz is option 5, Joyce is option 6, and I don't even know if I'd list Wilder as an option because I can't see Joshua picking Wilder as a comeback opponent in a million years.

That said, I think Joshua is content to wait and see how the whole Usyk thing plays out first. And it could be days, weeks or months.

But, who knows. Maybe we'll finally see Joshua-Wilder. That's why I'm a fan. The sport is full of surprises.

 

Someone's getting KO'd early in this fight.

But I think it's Wilder. Wilder cannot do anything once Joshua is on the inside.

 

In all truth Wilder v Joshua is a bigger fight than Fury v Whyte and also the Usyk v Joshua rematch, the only fight bigger in the Heavyweight division would be the undisputed fight and that is nowhere near going to happen anytime soon.At this time Wilder v Joshua as already mentioned would be the biggest non title Heavyweight fight in history.Joshua just needs to wait for the Usyk fight which gives him more time anyway,then win lose or draw the Wilder fight will always be there unless either Wilder or Joshua decide to retire .

 

I said this a while back, I doubt Wilder will fight again unless there's a belt involved. He won't fight contenders, as a contender himself. I get the impression he feels he's above that.

 

I agree but I also don't see Wilder taking on one of the top dogs either. I think the belts would need to be fractured with a belt being held by a Martin or Stiverne level fighter for him to take the risk. We will have to see what happens with Usyk as he's the key to the division moving forward.

 

Good point. Even though I rag some on Wilder, can't count him out completely. Especially if he fights the ham an eggers

 

As for Wilder, he and his wife started a fragrance company (I always think of Dennis Feinstein in Parks & Rec when I hear fragrance company), and he's started a music business of some kind, both of which seem to be the formula/avenue of black entertainment moguls in the U.S. these days. (I could care less, frankly.)

He bought a nice home in the south. He hasn't been in the gym apparently since last October.

If he retires now, he'll probably end up with a wonderful life and better off than most fighters.

If a huge payday against Usyk for all the belts (before all this Russia garbage, Usyk said he only wanted to fight Wilder and Fury) ... or if a huge payday against Joshua (belts or not) presented itself ... or if Whyte actually beat Fury for the WBC belt and that fight was presented ... I think he could get motivated enough to train and take any of those.

But, if those bouts didn't present themselves, I don't think he'd care, either.

He was never a "belt collector" like some. He had a long and very profitable run as WBC champ. That's the only org he really cares about.

Wilder seems to have zero interest in boxing right now. None at all. And he seems very happy. The longer he sits, the less chance we'll see him in the ring again.

Good for him.

If he's finished with boxing, he went out on his shield.

Joshua acts like he still has more to prove. Wilder seems content.

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