Anthony Joshua has revealed a blockbuster card that would see him take on Deontay Wilder on the same night as Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk could ‘potentially’ still happen in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua made it two wins on the bounce earlier this month after beating Robert Helenius, who stepped in for Dillian Whyte, in the seventh round with a crushing right hand at the 02 Arena, London.
The two-time world champion is expected to face Wilder next after Eddie Hearn claimed the fight is close to being finalised, and Joshua says the bout could happen on the same night as Fury vs Usyk if the latter two win their upcoming fights against Francis Ngannou and Daniel Dubois respectively.
Asked if he’s looking to fit in another fight before facing Wilder, Joshua told Sky Sports: ‘No. The time frame doesn’t really give an opportunity for that. The mind says fight in October but in reality we’re trying to schedule a fight for December. I’m going to focus on the Wilder fight for now.
‘From what I’ve heard, things are positive. We’ve got the stumbling block, Fury has to get past Ngannou and Usyk has to get past Dubois.
Joshua made it two wins on the bounce earlier this month after beating Robert Helenius
The two-time World champion is expected to take on Deontay Wilder (pictured) in next bout
‘Good luck to both of them, good luck to all parties involved and then we can sit down and rejig things around.
‘The goal is to have Usyk and Fury potentially compete for the undisputed heavyweight championship. Myself and Deontay Wilder, two big punchers, great fighters, been to the top of the mountain, slug it out and may the best man win.
‘It will be a great event, potentially. We’re just waiting to see what happens and then finalise the devil in the detail.’
Wilder and Joshua have had multiple attempts to stage a fight between the pair fall through in the past.
Joshua says his fight against Wilder could happen on same night as Fury vs Usyk in December
In 2019, when they were both at the peak of their powers and held all-four major sanctioning body belts between them, a £39.3million ($50m) offer was made to Joshua for a fight with the ‘Bronze Bomber’.
However, the Brit turned it down because of a set of undisclosed terms in the contract that he says made it ‘impossible’ to accept.
Similarly, Fury and Usyk were in talks for a fight that would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion in two decades, but they could not agree on financial terms.