Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder could still happen in the future.
The long-awaited heavyweight showdown was finally signed to take place in March in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, so long as both men won their fights in December.
AJ did his job in stopping Otto Wallin, however Wilder was comprehensively beaten by Joseph Parker in a major upset which scuppered plans.
The fight was scrapped as a result and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh (chairman of Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority – GEA) has put together a deal for Joshua to fight Francis Ngannou on March 8 instead.
Despite this though, he has now given a new interview in which he’s insisted that AJ vs Wilder can still happen one day, so long as the American stages a successful comeback.
“We don’t want to waste time,” Alalshikh told DAZN.
“Tyson Fury is 35 now, Anthony Joshua is 34, Oleksandr Usyk is 37, Deontay Wilder is 38, Artur Beterbiev is 39 next week. We are losing time.
“The people need to see Fury vs Joshua, Joshua vs Wilder – I mean, I hope Wilder comes back.
“The fight between Joshua and Wilder [was signed].
“But you see the result [vs Joseph Parker] and the body condition of Wilder now, so it would not be reasonable to have the fight now. We want him to come back.”
For the time being, Alalshikh has made it clear that his plan is for the winner of AJ vs Ngannou to challenge for the undisputed heavyweight world titles.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will do battle for all four belts on February 17, with Joshua undoubtedly eyeing the winner.
Wilder will have to seriously impress to force his way back into the mix, but Alalshikh does intend to give him a pathway to do so.
