Turki Al-Sheikh wants to put together a fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder in 2025 if Tyson Fury chooses to stay retired. ‘The Gyspy King’ announced his retirement this week, but it’s possible that Turki can bring him back for a fight against AJ.
If Fury stays retired, Al-Sheikh will focus on making the long-awaited match between former heavyweight champions Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) and Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs). It’s now or never for those two because both are coming off vicious knockout losses and looking over the hill.
Fallen Kings
Joshua is 35, and his chances of avenging his recent fifth-round knockout loss to IBF champion Daniel Dubois are minimal. That’s the fight that AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said he wanted to make if Fury stays retired. It’s not a good idea. Fighting Wilder sounds a lot better.
“I want to see Joshua and Wilder now. If Tyson is not available, why not Joshua and Wilder?” said Turki Al-Sheikh to talkSport Boxing about wanting Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder.
“We finished the fight between Bakole and the Nigerian fighter, Ajagba. After that, we want to see Joshua against Bakole. Me, I want to see this fight. Do you know where I want to see it? I want to see it in Africa.”
A fight between Joshua, who was recently knocked out, and Wilder would be a good entertainment type of fight. It makes sense, given Turki’s UFC model, which he’s following. He believes that it doesn’t matter if top fighters lose fights. They’re still capable of returning and entertaining fights for boxing fans.
Wilder, 39, has seemingly lost his self-confidence after his three fights against Tyson Fury. He’s not looked good in his last two fights against Zhlei Zhang and Joseph Parker. However, that could be due to the styles of those two fighters.
Zhang is a counter-punching southpaw with one-punch power, and he’s not the type of opponent that fighters can make mistakes against. Wilder couldn’t avoid getting caught by the powerful Zhang and was disposed of quickly in a fifth-round knockout.
In Deontay’s loss to Parker, he couldn’t figure out his crafty style, and he wasted what chance he had of winning by not throwing punches. That was a winnable fight for Wilder if he’d let his hands go.
