Even after failed attempts at securing a fight to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion, Eddie Hearn said Anthony Joshua still wants to face off against Deontay Wilder in the future.
Hearn spoke to Sporting News and talked about a potential fight between Joshua and Wilder after their respective next fights. Joshua is defending his unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles against Jarrell Miller on June 1 at Madison Square Garden while Wilder is defending his WBC title against Dominic Breazeale on May 18 in the nearby Barclays Center.
The British promoter added that Joshua has another option in case the fight against Wilder doesn't happen anytime soon: Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk recently vacated his WBA cruiserweight title in anticipation for a jump to heavyweight later this year. Usyk's plan is to eventually get a shot at Joshua's unified titles and that opportunity may come sooner rather later.
"That's what he wants. He wants the undisputed fight against Deontay Wilder, but all the focus is on the Miller fight right now. Usyk will be his mandatory, his next mandatory, so whether he fights in November, December or March, April ... it’s going to be very soon. But obviously an undisputed fight trumps a mandatory and we hope that he can beat Miller and then fight Wilder in the winter," Hearn said.
Joshua and Wilder have had a rivalry that has lasted over a year. DAZN, the streaming service that will stream Joshua's next fight in the United States, tried to sign Wilder, but Wilder rejected the company's offer and went to Showtime for his fight against Breazeale.
