Last Friday, it was reported that heavyweights Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua had verbally agreed to make their fight happen in early 2024 but with one specific condition. Given that they both fight on December 23 in Riyadh, they both have to win their respective fights and not get seriously injured in order to make their fight happen. However, Deontay Wilder has been the one that has attempted to fight Joshua by any means necessary for more than a year. But the Brit has been elusive, he was coming fresh out of two consecutive losses against Olekandr Usyk dna getting back on the ring right away to fight Wilder could be considered a risky move.
But Wilder himself went through a similar situation compared to AJ, he fought Tyson Fury three times and didn’t win a single one of those fights. In a sense, both of them were coming fresh out of an embarrassing time for their careers. Both probably felt fighting each other was a high risk but Deontay Wilder has been more active trying to get this fight to happen. So active indeed that he even has a Plan B already in motion, just in case Anthony Joshua decides last-minute he doesn’t want to fight him in early 2024. That replacement has been in the news recently after making his boxing debut in what many deemed a successful transition from MMA.
Who will Deontay Wilder fight if Joshua bows out?
Recently, Deontay Wilder spoke to the folks at talkSPORT about the next opponent after the December 23 event. He was directly asked if Anthony Joshua or Frnacis Ngannou were going to fight him. Here’s what Wilder said: “It is going to be one or the other, it could be [both Joshua and Ngannou in 2024], but I think it is going to be one or the other. It can happen that way where I see both of them, but I know for sure that I am going to get one of them, I know that for sure. So, the future is bright and I’m looking forward to [fighting] whoever I get into the ring with, whether that is both or one, I am grateful for it all.”