WILL IT HAPPEN?
Matt Christie asks Hearn if Joshua vs Wilder is looking likely for next year
MATCHROOM boss Eddie Hearn is understandably bored of talking about
Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder and, specifically, why they’re not fighting each other in September. But we wanted some confirmation that the showdown the world wants to see is still what Hearn and co. want to see… Boxing News: Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin is a good fight, but it’s hard
to shake the spectre of Deontay Wilder hanging over it…
Eddie Hearn: [Interrupting] Yes, but at the end of the day if we can’t box number two then we box number three. What more can you expect from Anthony Joshua? The level of opposition he’s facing is incredible. He could box anybody at Wembley Stadium and fill it. Look, Povetkin was his mandatory but he didn’t
have to take that when you’re looking at a Wilder fight, he could have taken an easier fight [and relinquished his WBA title]. But he said, ‘No, no, Povetkin is a good fight, I want that fight.’ He will fight them all. Wilder, [Dillian] Whyte, [Luis] Ortiz, [ Jarrell] Miller, it doesn’t matter to him.
BN: How certain are you he will fight Wilder?
EH: It’s up to Wilder. He agreed all the points that we put into the contract but they never came back to us on the contract. All we’ve done is sent them the same contract, with all the points they’ve already agreed to on the contract. It’s the same contract but just with a different date [April 13, 2019]. The terms they agreed still exist but let’s see what they do next because we know what we’re doing, and that’s Povetkin. We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing, we’ve mapped out our future and it’s up to him if he still wants to be a part of it.
BN: The cynical might say there’s a plan already in place that doesn’t involve Wilder. It’s surely easier for you to make Joshua vs Miller or potentially Whyte than trying to make the Wilder bout?
EH: My answer to that is I’d be a fool if I didn’t look at the landscape. I don’t know if the Wilder fight is going to happen, it’s purely up to Wilder. But what I can tell you is, I’m not going to sit back and wait on people. I’m going to get our plan in order as it always is for Anthony Joshua. The sole plan right now is Povetkin and Wilder, that’s all we’re interested in. If Whyte looks great against Joseph Parker, he’s an absolute front runner if Wilder doesn’t accept the fight. Miller, if he wins in October, is also in the mix, but they’re not even close to what we want. Hopefully we’ll make the Wilder fight. Wilder will come round, he has nowhere to go, nowhere to go.