Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has predicted who wins if Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder finally come to blows.
Both of these big men are former world champions, and both ruled concurrently for several years.
However, they never managed to negotiate a fight and both were kept busy with other contests until eventually they both got dethroned. It was Tyson Fury who beat Wilder twice in their epic trilogy after drawing the first fight. That kept Wilder away from the ring for a while, and when he did return after a first-round KO against Robert Helenius, he went on to lose to Joseph Parker on points, then got stopped by Zhilei Zhang last June. He is set to return to the ring against Tyrrell Herndon on Friday, June 27th, 2025. at Charles Koch Arena, Wichita.
Joshua lost his belts to Usyk in 2021, then failed to win them back in the rematch in 2022. He rebuilt with good wins over Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius and Francis Ngannou but then got stopped inside five by Daniel Dubois in September last year.
Wilder has recently spoken about his desire to make the match-up happen, saying it was ‘close’ and could happen as soon as next year.
“Not this year, for sure, but in the near future. Maybe sometime next year, maybe a year after that. Everything, all that, is close. We just all got to do what we gotta do.”
Speaking to Daily Mail Sport for a round of winner stays on, Usyk was asked who would come out on top between Brit ‘AJ’ and the American ‘The Bronze Bomber’, and he sided with his old foe.
“Anthony Joshua.”
Joshua is currently out recovering from injury and many fans hope to see him in with Tyson Fury next, should he come out of retirement. Wilder would also need to get some wins under his belt to help build a potential showdown with Joshua.
