‘No question’ Anthony Joshua will fight Deontay Wilder in 2018

Anthony Joshua will face Deontay Wilder in a heavyweight unification bout next year, according to promoter Eddie Hearn.

Exactly where and when the fight will happen is less certain but Hearn says there is “absolutely no question” the showdown will take place after a week of bad-mouthing and slurs exchanged by the main protagonists in the heavyweight division.

Wilder accused Joshua of “ducking” him after defending his WBC crown against Bermane Stiverne on Saturday. The British IBF and WBA champion responded by insisting the American had to make him an offer first.

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That appears to have happened now. The BBC reports that Hearn met Wilder’s promoter in the US yesterday for initial talks.

“Hearn emerged from his meeting with Wilder’s team stating there was a “desire” from both camps to “make this happen”. He was unable to clarify if it would be Joshua’s next fight or if a summer bout was more likely but stressed a meeting between the two unbeaten fighters would be the “biggest fight in world boxing”, adding: “Joshua wants this fight bad, Wilder wants it bad as well”. Hearn added: “It’s going to happen in 2018, absolutely no question. You can’t get away with not making fights anymore because when you do you wake up to a million tweets.”

While the prospects of a showdown between Joshua and Wilder looks promising The Guardian says it may not happen until the latter part of next year.

“Despite his confidence over Joshua and Wilder meeting next year, Hearn cautioned that the Briton could first meet the WBO champion, Joseph Parker. “The instructions from AJ is: ‘I want to be the unified champion by the end of 2018,’ so that means going through Wilder and Parker,” Hearn said. “We would fight Wilder in the US. We’d love the fight in the UK. Maybe we do two of them.”

Although Wilder and Parker top the list as Joshua’s next opponents, there’s still an appetite for an all-British clash with Tyson Fury if the former champion regains his licence following a drugs suspension.

The pair traded insults on social media this week with The Daily Telegraph claiming that if Fury does return to competitive action a showdown with Joshua would be the most lucrative option.

“Any potential fight between Fury and Joshua could be the biggest grossing fight in British boxing history. The British Boxing Board of Control have urged Fury’s legal team to propose a date before his UK Anti-Doping hearing can resume.”