By Abimbola Ogunnaike
Deontay Wilder has disclosed that his showdown with Anthony Joshua will take place in Saudi Arabia at the end of the year.
Talks have been ongoing for the heavyweight rivals to finally meet in the ring after years of anticipation with Joshua revealing back in April negotiations were progressing positively.
It had been hoped both Joshua and Wilder would both be in action this summer ahead of their proposed meeting in December.
The Briton, who beat Jermaine Franklin in his first fight under new trainer Derrick James in April, has been in talks to fight Dillian Whyte in a rematch while Wilder has been in negotiations with Andy Ruiz Jr.
Both fights appear a long way from being confirmed but Wilder is confident his fight with Joshua will be delivered.
‘The next fight, we’ve been working very hard, you’ve seen me training. It’s always been Ruiz, but if he doesn’t want to accept it then we will move on, or maybe hold out until the Joshua fight, because that’s definitely going down.
‘Y’all need to get your money ready for that,’ Wilder told78Sports TV in an interview.
Joshua and Wilder have been on collision course since the former picked up his first world title in 2016 against Charles Martin.
A year earlier, Wilder was crowned WBC champion, a belt he would successfully defend 10 times before Tyson Fury ended his reign in February 2020.
When Joshua became unified IBF, WBA and WBO champion in 2018, expectation for them to meet intensified but a deal was never struck. Despite both men losing their world titles since, the intrigue over one of the biggest fights in the sport remains
‘He is good, I respect him, I don’t undermine him,’ Joshua told Metro.co.uk when discussing the Wilder fight in April.
‘That will make me raise my game,’ Joshua said of The Bronze Bomber. ‘I respect what he has done and what he has done in this division. It is hard to become a champion and he did it so I have to respect that.
‘It’s going to be a tough fight but I am confident in myself. I’m a better, more well-rounded athlete, a better, more well-rounded fighter.’
Source: Metro UK
