Shelly Finkel, co-manager of WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, was asked about Wilder possibly facing WBA/IBF/WBO champion Anthony Joshua, which has been a main topic of discussion in the boxing world for a while now.
It’s not much, but Finkel isn’t closing the door on that fight:
“When the conditions are right, Deontay would love to fight Anthony Joshua.”
So at least there’s that. No idea what the right conditions would be, necessarily, but hey.
Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KO) is coming off of a controversial Dec. 1 draw against Tyson Fury, and was expected to go again with Fury this spring in a highly-anticipated rematch. And then Fury signed with Top Rank and pulled out of negotiations for the rematch, ostensibly to become a phenomenal mainstream sports star with the backing of the almighty ESPN.
Now Wilder is set to return May 18, probably against Dominic Breazeale (20-1, 18 KO). Joshua, meanwhile, had to cancel an April 13 date at Wembley Stadium because they couldn’t get the right opponent for that sort of event, and will instead make his U.S. debut at Madison Square Garden on June 1, facing Jarrell Miller (23-0-1, 20 KO). And Fury will face someone, at some point this spring.
The top of the heavyweight division is split into thirds right now. You’ve got the two titleholders, Joshua and Wilder, and then Fury, who is still considered by many to be the lineal champion. Quality opponents for those guys are going to get really scarce sooner rather than later — frankly, probably by the end of 2019, if they don’t fight each other by then, which at this point there’s no real reason to expect they will.
Source: badlefthook.com
