Deontay Wilder turned down an offer to meet with Anthony Joshua in Abu Dhabi this week as a fight with Andy Ruiz Jr. draws closer.
As World Boxing News confirmed many times, Wilder vs Ruiz Jr. is on the cards for the first quarter of 2023 in Las Vegas.
A date of March 18 is already booked at the MGM Grand Garden Arena by Premier Boxing Champions and Tom Brown Sports. It’s thought the hold is tentatively taken for the massive heavyweight Pay Per View.
So WBN got a surprise to read that promoter Eddie Hearn was hoping to land a Wilder fight for his mount Joshua in the first half of next year.
Al Haymon’s Deontay Wilder plan There’s absolutely no way Al Haymon will give up his plan with the World Boxing Council, which has been in motion for over 18 months.
Haymon and WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman agreed to a four-fighter tournament to crown the next WBC heavyweight title mandatory challenger to Tyson Fury.
If Wilder went anywhere near Joshua, he’d have undone a year and a half of work by Haymon and his PBC team. Ruiz has one fight left with the promotional company, and that’s fully expected to be Ruiz after he out-pointed Luis Ortiz.
Anything Hearn states regarding a possible Wilder vs Joshua fight in the first six months of 2023 is a mere pipedream.
Wilder won’t be available until at least August for his second outing in 2023. And dependent on the date for the Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk undisputed battle next year, it could be for all the belts against the winner.
As WBN also reported, Joe Joyce is not guaranteed a shot at the WBO belt as the number one. Therefore, the eventual undisputed champion will be able to secure the most lucrative option.
That will be Wilder if he manages to defeat Ruiz in Nevada.
