Wilder’s next move shuts out Joshua
ANTHONY JOSHUA and Deontay Wilder will have to reopen their fractious marathon negotiations if their fight to become undisputed world heavyweight champion is to take place any time soon. Wilder has announced as expected that his next fight will be a defence of his WBC title against mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale in New York on May 18. Prior notice that it would be televised live on the Premier Boxing Champions’ YouTube channel confirmed speculation that the Bronze Bomber would be rejecting the £75million offer with which streaming channel DAZN hoped to lock him into a series of fights, including one or two against Joshua. By staying faithful to Al Haymon, his mentor at PBC, Wilder kept his options open while continuing to work with his regular TV network in the US, Showtime. Wilder said: ‘I love being a free agent. I don’t like contracts which let other people make decisions for me. I will take each fight as I go. ‘Why Showtime despite all those chasing me? I’ve been with them a long time. They’ve come with me through my career. If they’re with me to the end, that’s fine by me.’ Joshua follows Wilder to New York on June 1 for a defence of his belts against Jarrell Miller. Hopes linger that their next fights would be in November against each other but the odds against that have lengthened considerably.