The heavyweight division in boxing has seen a resurgence of sorts over the past few years. After more than a decade of dominance by the Klitschko brothers Wladimir and Vitali, some young up-and-coming stars from the United States and United Kingdom have taken hold of the top belts in the division.
Deontay Wilder (WBC champion) and Anthony Joshua (IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO champion) hold a combined record of 61-0-0 with 59 knockouts between them. They are the hard-hitting, physical specimens that the heavyweight division has needed and they have been on an apparent collision course for the past couple of years.
Wilder (40-0-0, 39 KOs) has been busy vanquishing every foe that’s come his way here in the U.S. with relative ease, knocking out all challengers with the exception of his first title bout with Bermane Stiverne that saw him dominate his way to a lopsided decision victory. Joshua (21-0-0, 20 KOs) has likewise been on a tear in England, but holds the most impressive victory on either man’s record with his knockout of Wladimir Klitschko in one of the best fights of 2017 to earn most of the heavyweight division’s titles.
Now, after a year of posturing about the potential for a superfight, the two have agreed to terms on a deal that will see Wilder cross the pond to visit Joshua on his home turf in the U.K., according to Dan Rafael of ESPN and Wilder’s own Twitter account.
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨 for all you @anthonyfjoshua fans… The $50M offer for him to fight me next in the US is still available. Today I even agreed to their offer to fight Joshua next in the UK. If he prefers the fight in the UK, the ball is in their court. It’s up to them to choose. pic.twitter.com/03PE8sk5x0
— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) June 11, 2018
Here we go!!!! Deontay Wilder has accepted the terms offered to him by Anthony Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn for them to meet in the United Kingdom for the undisputed heavyweight championship this fall, Shelly Finkel, Wilder’s co-manager, told ESPN on… https://t.co/kofDN7ZwiW
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) June 11, 2018
The location of the bout has been one of the major hangups in negotiations with Wilder hoping to fight in New York City or Las Vegas, and Joshua hoping to stay at home. Joshua won out on that portion of negotiations and now we are on our way to the biggest fight of the year — non GGG-Canelo division. It’s also the biggest heavyweight title fight in recent memory, and figures to deliver on the promise of a knockout from one of the combatants.
According to Rafael, it’s a two-fight contract with a rematch coming back in the United States should one take place and now we will just wait patiently for the details on exactly when and where we will get to watch a fantastic fight (knowing that it will hit airwaves in the U.S. on Showtime, given both fighters have Showtime deals stateside).
