The entire boxing world wants to see the heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder and now even the president of the World Boxing Council has weighed in on the matter.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman recently said the unification fight should be made and that if the fight does not get made, then it would be a shame for the sport.
"If they don't fight next year, it's going to be a shame. And whoever gets in the middle of making this fight, should be ashamed of himself, because Boxing needs these fights. The WBC has done its part, the road is clear and everything is ready for the fight to be made and there's no reason not to make it. The heavyweight division has been the model of boxing and now every possibility is there, it would be a terrible mistake not to make this happen," Sulaiman said.
Wilder is the WBC's heavyweight champion while Joshua holds the IBF and WBA "super" heavyweight titles. The superfight had been in the works for some time, but negotiations have fallen apart with reports indicating that a Joshua vs. Wilder unification bout could take place in the second half of 2018. Both Wilder and Joshua do not have any immediate mandatory challenges to fulfill with the status of Kubrat Pulev, the IBF's mandatory challenger, in question due to an injury suffered shortly before he was set to take on Joshua in October.
Joshua will likely fight WBO champion Joseph Parker in his next fight, setting the stage up for the winner of a potential Joshua vs. Wilder bout to hold a world title from all four major governing bodies at the same time.
