Anthony Joshua says his half of a Saudi Arabia superfight night of fights is in the works. If all goes according to plan, the event would also feature Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk.
Anthony Joshua has confirmed plans for a December fight with Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
Reports have been coming out through April that the Saudi Boxing Federation has been plotting to put together one of the biggest night in boxing history. Not only would Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fight to unify the heavyweight titles, but Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder would also compete … all on the same night. Fight purses for this unprecedented night of heavyweight action could hit an insane $400 million.
Now we have Anthony Joshua on camera discussing his part of the blockbuster event.
“That’s what happening,” Joshua told a fan who asked about the Wilder fight.”It’s public news, we are getting it done. We’re throwing down in December.”
It’s worth mentioning that Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder aren’t the tricky parts of this superfight equation. Tyson Fury is the one with a history of difficult fight negotiations. Attempts to get Joshua and Usyk into the ring with “The Gypsy King” have failed to yield fruit so far, with the latest Fury-Usyk negotiations breaking down in March. That may just be because Tyson knew Saudi Arabia was sitting in the wings with a nine-figure offer, though.
If this December event comes together, it’s great news for boxing fans. It’s slightly less great for Francis Ngannou, who was hoping to score his own boxing superfight bag after leaving the UFC. The former heavyweight champion became a free agent at the start of 2023, and has been angling to step into the ring with one of the four top boxing heavyweights.
This Saudi Arabia night of superfights throws quite the wrench into those plans, leaving him with few options other that to wait until 2024.
Anthony Joshua has had a shaky couple of years after going undefeated through his career from 2013 to 2018. He was TKO’d by Andy Ruiz in 2019, and while he avenged that loss later in the year it definitely hurt his status. A pair of back to back losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022 further dropped his stock, and a lackluster decision win over Jermaine Franklin in April 2023 isn’t inspiring confidence in a return to form.
Deontay Wilder is also on the comeback trail after losing two fights to Tyson Fury, but made quick work of Robert Helenius in his last fight with a nasty first round KO win.