Anthony Joshua should have fought Deontay Wilder six years ago this month. In December 2017 Joshua held the IBF and WBA versions of the world heavyweight title and, after a remarkable victory over Wladimir Klitschko eight months earlier, his record was a flawless 19-0. He was 27 years old and at the peak of his profession. Wilder, with his 38-0 record including 37 victories by stoppage, was the WBC heavyweight champion and the most imposing knockout merchant on the planet.
There was considerable risk in a unification fight, for both men, but they were in their physical and psychological prime as heavyweight champions and they would almost certainly have produced a riveting contest. Of course promotional rivalries, sanctioning body shenanigans and the rampant egos of boxing’s powerbrokers meant that the fight never happened. It was only this month that contracts were apparently signed by both Joshua and Wilder for them to meet in March 2024 in Riyadh. Those delayed plans have now been consigned to the fight game’s overflowing dump of ruined dreams.
In the early hours of Sunday morning in Riyadh, Wilder was beaten by Joseph Parker in an embarrassingly one‑sided bout. One judge gave every round to Parker and the two other officials were accurate in their 118-111 and 118-110 scoring. Wilder, Joshua, their promoters and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which believes that bankrolling boxing might help to obscure its appalling human rights record, have all been left to rue the harsh reality of heavyweight boxing.
“He lost 120-108 [on one scorecard], he lost every round,” Eddie Hearn said of Wilder just after 3am on Sunday, local time. In his role as Joshua’s promoter, Hearn laid all the blame on Wilder. “It was the most one-sided heavyweight fight I’ve seen. Listen, it’s ruined our plans. The future is not Deontay Wilder. If anyone is going to ruin the plans, though, I’m delighted for Joseph Parker and [his trainer] Andy Lee. Top, top men.”
Hearn was right to praise the admirable Parker, who avoided the threat of Wilder’s devastating right hand all night while following his trainer’s authoritative strategy. “Was it an upset?” Hearn said before he proceeded to trash Wilder’s reputation. “I don’t know but I’ve said before that this guy’s never beaten an elite heavyweight.”
Wilder, however, had been an electrifying force in boxing. His highlight reel of knockouts might have included a string of journeymen – but so did Joe Louis’s “Bum of the Month Club” in the late 1930s and 1940s when that great world champion laid waste to the heavyweight division. And Wilder’s epic trilogy of fights with Tyson Fury – in which he knocked down the “Gypsy King” four times – showed the courage and power of both men in an unforgettable series of world title fights. Wilder and Fury were made for each other, and they were compelling dance partners, but the cost of their rivalry was clear in the way that the American looked a ghost of his former self against Parker.
Hearn chose next to elevate Joshua to new heights of hyperbole after he dominated Otto Wallin, who was rescued by his corner at the end of the fifth round in Riyadh. “Anthony Joshua is leagues above Deontay Wilder,” Hearn said, even though their proposed showdown in March had been marketed for months as one of boxing’s definitive encounters. “I believe this Anthony Joshua is the best heavyweight in the world. That was a punch-perfect performance, a stunning performance. One that says he is back. With this mindset I think he is unbeatable: 2024 will be massive for him.”
Joshua looked more impressive and concentrated in the ring than he has done in years. Yet Wallin is a limited opponent and, before the fight, it was clear that the most worrying aspects for those who admire Joshua centred on the uncertain state of his mind. After being knocked out by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, who he then outpointed in an ultra-cautious rematch six months later, Joshua lost twice in a row to the far more naturally gifted Oleksandr Usyk, who came up from cruiserweight to make him look such a flawed former champion.
Joshua spoke sensibly after the fight when he pointed out that boxing is “a treacherous business. It’s like snakes and ladders – one win gets you up the ladder and a [loss] takes you all the way back down”.
Hearn, of course, has a new plan. In February, Fury and Usyk meet in boxing’s first world heavyweight title unification bout since 1999 when Lennox Lewis was the last undisputed champion. But Hearn is banking on the fact that the IBF, one of the four main sanctioning bodies, will strip the new champion of its belt if he does not agree to an immediate match with its mandatory contender, Filip Hrgovic from Croatia. It is likely that Fury and Usyk would prefer a far more lucrative rematch than face the still relatively obscure Hrgovic.
The way will then be clear, in Hearn’s latest grand plan, for Joshua to fight Hrgovic for the vacant IBF bauble. “He wants to become a three-time heavyweight world champion,” the promoter said of Joshua. “It will be Filip Hrgovic against AJ for the world title.”
That imagined fight does not have the ring of Fury v Usyk nor the resonance that Joshua v Wilder carried before Saudi Arabia’s much trumpeted Day of Reckoning obliterated those plans. Parker, the unheralded but likable New Zealander, simply smiled amid the madness of boxing. “Everyone had other plans, but this is God’s plan. I was really fit. I stayed calm, relaxed, focused. There are always things to work on but I got the win. Merry Christmas to us.”
