Well, Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder is a no-go.
The two heavyweight boxers were supposed to collide this year, but won’t be fighting after Wilder suffered a dominating loss to Joseph Parker in December. As for the victorious Joshua, the door has now been opened for other, more interesting opponents.
‘They’re All Big’ Fights For Joshua, Says Hearn
Joshua’s manager Eddie Hearn discusses what fight could be in the cards next for the top heavyweight.
“Right now, we have 3 fights that we’re in discussions for,” Hearn told iFL TV. “They’re all big and that doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder before March. Our aim, and we’ve expressed this, is to fight the winner of Fury-Usyk. That’s all we wanna do.
“Obviously, there’s the [Filip] Hrgovic fight out there for the the world heavyweight title. There’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there, which would be absolutely colossal.”
Ngannou vs. Joshua?
In a boxing debut like no other, ex-UFC Heavyweight Champion Ngannou would take the fight to Tyson Fury, knocking him down in the third round. ‘The Predator’ even went the distance with Fury, but lost by split decision on the judges’ scorecards.
Having shocked the world against Fury, many want to see Ngannou face off with another elite boxer. With Wilder out of the way, perhaps the fight to make is Joshua vs. Fury.
Hearn Entertains More Names
However, promoter Hearn is making sure to keep his options open at this time.
“There’s other heavyweights as well,” Hearn noted. “There’s a [Zhilei] Zhang fight possibly as well with Queensbury. But, Parker? Yeah, possibly. I mean, it’s difficult. We fought Parker, beat him, unified against him. It was 5 years ago or whatever it was, but Joseph’s definitely earned the right for a big fight. He’s just beaten Deontay Wilder, so we don’t rule that out either.
“[Wilder] ain’t in AJ’s league,” Hearn added. “I was delighted for Joseph Parker, but, unfortunately, he got the chance to do what I believe we would’ve done, which is win every round— probably knock him out.”
Will Francis Ngannou end up being Anthony Joshua’s next opponent?
