Might we have now seen the last of two former heavyweight champions, both big punchers and both big, big attractions over the last decade or so, this being Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder? Both men – who could have, should have met one another in what would have been a monstrously huge and entertaining battle of unbeaten big men back in 2018 or 2019, this before AJ came a cropper against Andy Ruiz, and before Wilder was thrashed by Tyson Fury in their second fight – are coming off bad stoppage defeats.
Wilder was last seen being hammered by Zhilei Zhang, this in a fight where the formerly lethal “Bronze Bomber” looked a veritable shell of himself. Joshua’s career is of course in a pretty bad place right now due to the nasty KO he suffered at the hands of Daniel Dubois on Saturday. Wilder has been listening to retirement calls for some time, while Joshua is hearing them at full volume as we speak.
But both men could fight on. In fact, if we listen to AJ and Eddie Hearn, it seems Joshua will box on, with him maybe trying to go back in with Dubois as per that rematch clause. As for Wilder, he himself has all but vanished, leaving his trainer Malik Scott to speak on his behalf. And Scott has given a couple of interviews recently, one before Saturday’s fight between Dubois and Joshua, and one after it, and Scott says Wilder will fight again.
Not only that, but Scott, in speaking with Boxing News in the UK, says the Wilder Vs. Joshua fight can still happen. Talk about better late than never. But would it be better if this once mouthwatering matchup, now way, way past its sell-by date, didn’t happen? Both former champions are damaged goods, and this cannot be denied no matter what kind of spin anyone tries to put on things. Crucially, neither Joshua nor Wilder seem to have much of any punch resistance left at this stage.
Would we watch if these two DID fight, say in the first quarter of next year? Yeah, some of us would, and the fight would make money. But what kind of a fight would it be, between two ‘losers’ who both have a suspect chin and are getting on in years (Wilder especially, who isn’t too far off his 40th birthday)? It would be a case of whoever landed first wins, and the fight if it took place could be over with in a flash.
Both Wilder and Joshua have plenty of money, both men can look back on a good, exciting ring career, and at this point in time both men have their health. It’s tough for any fighter to say goodbye, to walk away, and it’s even tougher for some fighters to go out on the back of a bad defeat. As such, neither Joshua nor Wilder will go quietly if they do go. One can imagine the talks, the arguments even, between Wilder and his people, people who care about him, and Joshua and his people, people who care about him; this behind the scenes, as the retirement issue is voted for and is voted against.
In the end good sense may prevail, or maybe it will not prevail. But who has a tougher time coming back and actually winning when it comes to Joshua and Wilder? Wilder seemed to have nothing left in the Zhang fight, while Joshua made a fight of it, for a while, against Dubois, but was ultimately blasted out just as nastily. It was indeed sad to see Wilder go down and out the way he did in his last fight, and it was sad (and shocking) to see Joshua go down and out in his last fight.
Last fight? This may not prove to be the case, for either guy. It’s crazy indeed that anyone is even talking about a Joshua-Wilder fight happening in 2025, this after both former champions have been through what they’ve been through. It would be all-but car crash ‘entertainment’ if Wilder and Joshua did fight after all these years.
Who out there wants to see it?
