Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder ‘working’ to fight at the same event in December

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Following the disintegration of their agreement to face each other this year for the long-expected faceoff, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder are ‘working to finish deals’ with a Saudi Arabian group for separate matches in December.

The two former world champions disappointed many fans by not competing with each other while they were still holders. On top of that, efforts to get both to sign a professional fight contract have failed over and over.

Eddie Hearn said the following while speaking on the latest development that included his client Anthony Joshua getting a different fight opponent for December:

‘I don’t want to go on about the Wilder fight, but I think that’s March or April. I think he’s talking about fighting in January. People always say give us some names – I don’t know, Hrgovic, Wallin, Kabayel.

‘Right now we’ve not reached out officially for anyone for December 23, but if talks to speed up we would make a play for that date.’

Dan Rafael also announced that Deontay Wilder is also working to get a different opponent.

‘While Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk won’t fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship on Dec. 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as initially planned, a major pay-per-view card is in the process of being finalized for the same date and site that is expected to feature the division’s two other major stars,’ wrote Rafael.

‘Former heavyweight titleholders Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder are both working to finish deals with Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, which has been bankrolling a variety of significant sports and entertainment events, to fight in separate bouts on the card, multiple sources with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.

‘Also possible for the card, according to a source with knowledge of the talks, is WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs), 32, of Russia, who has yet to fight in 2023 but was the consensus 2022 fighter of the year thanks to an upset decision over Canelo Alvarez and a one-sided rout of then-unbeaten top challenger Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.’

You can read the full update here.

Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk in February to meet the agreement in their fight contract that makes it mandatory for them to compete before April.