Comment from Wilder’s camp on the Fury–Joshua fight

Former heavyweight champions Tyson Fury (35–2–1, 24 KOs) and Anthony Joshua (29–4, 26 KOs) have agreed to a mega fight this autumn. The bout will take place after AJ faces Christian Prenga in July.

Shelly Finkel, manager of former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, was asked to comment on the news. Back in 2018, the teams of Joshua and Wilder were actively negotiating a clash. The talks dragged on but no agreement was reached.

Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn (Matchroom) recently announced they were ready to host two consecutive mega fights. It was assumed they had planned a summer warm-up bout with Wilder, followed by a meeting with Fury.

Hearn later indirectly confirmed that this had all been a promotional tactic. He admitted they were looking for the most accessible opponent, which is why the relatively unknown Prenga was chosen.

A Sky Sports reporter asked Finkel whether he was disappointed that the fight had not been offered to Wilder. The manager replied: “You can’t be disappointed by something that never happened. Hearn never contacted us. Obviously, Anthony had no intention of fighting Deontay. I see all of this as just another repeat of the same story.”