Shelly Finkel manager of Deontay Wilder states that Anthony Joshua is still a huge fight for Deontay

Wilder vs Joshua is a fight I would still very much like to see.

It's very difficult to predict a winner, but I'm quite sure it would not go the distance.

 

Joshua has no reason to fight to him.

 

More money than fighting Usyk again. More winnable than Usyk 2. Would reestablish himself as one of the top guys in the division.

I'd be all over it if I was Hearn. They've always been obsessed with belts though so they'll never give up their rematch.

 

This fight would outsell Fury vs Usyk IMO.

 

Although it may be a huge fight for Wilder, as many are now, it most likely isn't attainable given the brutal loss he suffered in the third fight. Not the hot sale it once wss.

 

This, unfortunately, is why it probably never happens.

The only hope for it ever happening is that Joshua's still pissed at Wilder for ducking before and wants it enough to give up more of the purse than he'd normally be asked to....
That said, I don't think Wilder would have changed his mind at all and think he'd price himself out of having to go there.

We'll see I suppose, but I suspect Wilder would rather let people argue over whether he's a serious fighter despite his poor resume than go out and risk getting beaten trying to prove it - he doesn't seem to have valued building a serious resume when he had the means (belt) to make whatever fights he wanted, so why should he suddenly be keen to get in there with guys who are levels above anyone he's ever beaten?

There's plenty about AJ that's questionable at the very highest level, but it's undeniable that he's there or thereabouts... Wilder on the other hand might be at that level or he might not, he doesn't have the resume to prove he is and the odds are against it IMHO (and that's to say nothing of any lasting damage from his stubborn insistence on taking sustained punishment).

To say I'd have Joshua a heavy favourite is an understatement.

 

No man should allow himself to be called Shelly.

 

Would it actually fix his rep, though?

Or would it finally shatter the illusion that Wilder is anywhere near belonging up there - with Wilder's rep taking the huge hit (deservedly) and AJ getting little credit?

 

Fight won't happen. Joshua can fight a couple of British domestic guys to get his mojo back and him and Fury will still do business. Wilder has no choice but to go back to the Molinas and Szpilkas of the world for the moment.

 

Fury - Wilder 1 was indeed a cherry pick gone wrong. I don't believe Wilder wanted to fight Joshua in the preceding years, and thought that "washed-up" 2018 Fury would be a decently low risk big name to add to his resume. Wilder's mentality revolves around power:
"As I always say, these guys have to be perfect for 12 rounds, I only need to be perfect for two seconds, and then, in the blink of an eye, it's bam, baby, goodnight!"
So I'm guessing that he thought that an 12-round outboxer like Fury, especially in his dishevelled ring rusty state, would be the perfect stylistic matchup for him. No power, no problem.
Of course, things have changed... but I think that being flattened twice by the Gypsy King has actually increased Wilder's confidence against Joshua! He now knows what it's like to be in there with an aggressive big man with both skill and power, and has even put that man on his ass three times. Wilder knows that Joshua is levels below even the subpar Fury that we saw in the trilogy (and has probably convinced himself that Fury was at 100% in that fight, the R4 count was too long, etc.)
In short, I think it's much more likely that Wilder is willing to fight Joshua now, and I do favour him in that bout.

 

If Joshua gets dominated worse in the rematch (as can often happen when the first fight wasn't swung by a single punch) then a multimillion dollar fight vs Deontay could be attractive. If it's looking like there's a genuine chance he could lose to some of the Brit options then the Wilder pay day would make sense.

 

The Fury option will always make more sense for Joshua under any circumstance.

 

Dumbest fan theory I've ever heard