Anthony Joshua could fight Deontay Wilder in an ‘unbelievable’ final eliminator for Tyson Fury’s WBC title
Anthony Joshua could meet Deontay Wilder in potentially the biggest final eliminator the world has ever seen.
Joshua and Wilder will compete in separate bouts on December 23 against Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker respectively.
If both Wilder and Joshua are victorious they will be on course to box each other next year. But even though they are the No 1 and No 2-ranked contenders with the WBC they won’t fight each other for that heavyweight championship.
The WBC has confirmed to Sky Sports that their heavyweight championship will not only be contested, along with the IBF, WBA and WBO belts, in the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk undisputed title fight on February 17 but also in an expected Fury-Usyk rematch.
Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC president, emphasised that his organisation has been committed to supporting establishing an undisputed champion at heavyweight.
“We’ve been waiting and pushing and mediating and encouraging everyone to try to make this happen,” Sulaiman told Sky Sports.
“When Wilder was champion there were a couple of occasions where Wilder-Joshua came very close. The WBC left that window without interfering with anything that could get in the way. Then with Tyson Fury, he was ready to fight Joshua, then Usyk.
“The problem that could happen is a mandatory contender,” he continued. “We did order Wilder against [Andy] Ruiz, which was a tremendous fight, to find a mandatory contender.
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Joshua jokes that with his investment into Alpine’s Formula 1 team, he could help drivers with their reaction times and also teases a ‘mega-card’ against Deontay
“That fight didn’t take place. So the WBC board of governors has approved Fury against Usyk in February and then the rematch so there will not be anything in the way, as far as the WBC, for both fights to take place.”
The big show on December 23 could however eventually produce the mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight title that Fury holds.
“In itself it is a natural WBC elimination tournament. You have Wilder, No 1, Joshua, you have Parker, you have Otto Wallin, all those are highly ranked in the WBC. After December 23 we’re going to see a different picture in the rankings,” Sulaiman explained.
Joshua and Wilder will be favoured to win their fights and the expectation is for the American and the Briton to box next year.
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Tyson Fury dismissed the significance of Joshua’s potential bout with fellow heavyweight Wilder and labelled the fight as a ‘battle of losers’
“It looks like Wilder and Joshua are on a collision course. That could very well be a final elimination to determine a mandatory contender for the WBC title,” Sulaiman said.
That would be one of the most high-profile final eliminators the sport has ever seen.
“Unbelievable. That would be a dream come true for the fans,” Sulaiman said.
“I am very happy to see the promoters collaborating, the managers, the fighters. Of course there’s big money involved but you have to make it.
“You can dream of things, we have been dreaming for this and this is the perfect moment to get into another era of boxing. So we will be supporting as much as we can.”
