FILE – On this March 3, 2018, file photo, Deontay Wilder, left, fights Luis Ortiz in the course of the third round of the WBC heavyweight championship bout in Latest York. Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua were once the predominant characters in heavyweight boxing’s soap opera but now they’re extras. Wilder and Joshua are in the dominion this weekend and fighting simply to remain relevant. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua were once the predominant characters in heavyweight boxing’s soap opera.
Now they’re extras.
While Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk proceed preparations for a Feb. 17 unification bout in Saudi Arabia that may determine the division’s first undisputed champion this century, Wilder and Joshua are in the dominion this weekend and fighting simply to remain relevant.
Wilder, the WBC champion from 2015-20, was dethroned by Fury in February 2020 and has fought only twice since. What type of shape will the 38-year-old American be in when he takes on Joseph Parker, the WBO champion from 2016-18?
After that comes the predominant event on what has been labeled the “Day of Reckoning” as Joshua, the previous WBA, IBF and WBO titleholder, fights Otto Wallin, a Latest York-based Swedish journeyman. Joshua has underwhelming wins over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius on his record since back-to-back defeats to Usyk that left his profession at a crossroads.
Whether Wilder and Joshua have the assumption after their damaging losses to turn into heavyweight champion again is open to query. They’re probably to fight one another next — provided they each win in Jeddah — and the winner of what could be a big-money bout would, in theory, be in position to challenge for a world title.
“It’s the closest that it’s ever been in history,” Wilder said this week of a possible meeting with Joshua that he regards as “the most important fight on the earth.”
Possibly 5 – 6 years ago, but surely not anymore.
Not with Wilder having fought only Helenius since completing that trilogy against Fury in October 2021.
And never with Joshua appearing vulnerable and fragile after three losses in a five-fight span from 2019-22, crushing an aura he had built.
“I believe he’s lost his confidence and momentum,” Wallin said of Joshua ahead of their fight, echoing the thoughts of many in boxing. “You possibly can see the decline … Joshua looks unsure of himself.”
FILE – Britain’s Anthony Joshua, right, lands a blow on Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk during their world heavyweight title fight at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Joshua, a 34-year-old Brit who has been world champion twice after winning gold on the 2012 Olympics, has twice modified trainers to fuel his profession rebuild and has been working with one other — Ben Davison, who was once in Fury’s corner — for the Wallin fight. A protracted-time media darling, Joshua has been more tight-lipped since arriving in Saudi Arabia and appears to be all business this time.
“I do know where I’m entering into my life,” Joshua said, “but I’ve got to say, this can be a checkpoint. And if I don’t get past this, there isn’t a future so I’m fully locked in to Otto Wallin and doing the job.”
Wallin, a southpaw like Usyk, just isn’t an enormous puncher like Joshua and has won his last five fights on points. He’s on a six-fight winning streak since losing to Fury in September 2019 but none have been against a top heavyweight.
As for Parker, the Latest Zealander’s loss to Joe Joyce of Britain in September last 12 months was a 3rd defeat of his profession but he has no less than kept busy within the meantime with three straight wins against unheralded opponents.
The identical can’t be said of Wilder, around whom there’s essentially the most curiosity this week — not least since the “Bronze Bomber” last fought outside the USA in 2014.
“I come to do what I do best, and that’s what the fans wish to see,” said Wilder, who has a status for being arguably the most important puncher within the division. “Nobody desires to see a 12-round fight and we’re heavyweights and hard hitters. They wish to see us fight after which afterward go party. Nowadays my name is named Dr. Sleep.”
It’s the primary time he has fought in Saudi Arabia, seemingly the brand new home of heavyweight boxing due to the lucrative purses the dominion offers. It’s the third time for Joshua — and it’ll little question be a fourth if he and Wilder win to establish their likely fight within the spring of 2024.
