It was all so close, but so far away. In 2018, the world of boxing was fixated on a potential heavyweight showdown featuring Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Well, the fate of the boxing world took a different turn. Deontay Wilder deviated from negotiations with Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury. Ultimately, his decision triggered a trilogy that would forever alter the way in which Fury is viewed among the heavyweight greats. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua set up a fight with Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden for his U.S. debut. However, Miller tested positive, Andy Ruiz stepped up in his place and Joshua suffered the first knockout defeat of his career. Just a few years later, Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury hold all of the division’s belts, but fans still clamor for a Wilder-Joshua fight. In fact, Wilder believes that it’s the biggest fight that can be made in the sport today.
“Me vs Anthony Joshua is still the biggest fight in the world. Even bigger than Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk,” he said during a recent appearance on Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club.
Wilder isn’t only hoping to fight Joshua, but he’s hoping to do so overseas. During a recent conversation with BBC Sport, he explained that he hopes to fight Joshua in Africa. However, he didn’t specify which country he hopes to do this in.
“We both have roots from there,” Wilder told BBC Sport.
“I think it would be an amazing place to have it, to go back home. To go back to the motherland. A continent full of our people. I can just see that being an amazing fight, win, lose or draw.”
Before Wilder can fight Joshua, he must get by Robert Helenius. Wilder is scheduled to fight his former sparring partner, Helenius, on October 15, 2022 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
