British boxing legend Ricky Hatton has had his say on what might happen in a long-touted heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
Joshua and Wilder spent many concurrent years as heavyweight champions but never managed to get into the ring together.
‘AJ’ unified the division and held the WBO, WBA and IBF belts after wins over the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, Charles Martin and Wladimir Klitschko, while Wilder knocked out every man he faced across his first 40 contests, including Luis Ortiz, Dominic Breazeale and Bermane Stiverne.
However, he came up against Tyson Fury in 2018 and drew, then fought the Brit twice more in 2020 and 2021 and was stopped both times. Since then, he has failed to win his belts back and taken further losses against Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
Joshua also lost in 2020 and 2021, both times to eventual undisputed ruler Oleksandr Usyk on points, and he has since been stopped by Daniel Dubois while challenging for the IBF title back in September.
In a round of winner stays on with Mail Sport Boxing, Hatton was asked who would come out on top between ‘AJ’ and ‘The Bronze Bomber’ were they to meet.
“Anthony Joshua.”
Both Joshua and Wilder have vowed to fight on, with Wilder returning this month against Tyrell Herndon and Joshua set to come back later in the year after recovering from minor elbow surgery.
Should both men win, they could well finally meet in the ring in 2026, though many fans are also clamouring for ‘AJ’ to face Fury, should he reverse his retirement decision.
