This Saturday, British heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) will take on Carlos Takam in England in front of another sold-out crowd. This one has actually set an all-time indoor boxing record of 78,000 fans.
Although Takam (35-3-1, 27 KOs) is the IBF mandatory challenger for the unified champion, many only want to see one bout in the heavyweight division: Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder.
Ironically, Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) has a rematch against Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) next weekend at the Barclays Center.
Brendan Schaub with Deontay Wilder | Wilder vs. Stiverne II – Nov. 4 on SHOWTIME
Brendan Schaub sits down with WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder ahead of his title defense against mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne – live Saturday, November 4 at 9PM ET/6PM PT.
With a slew of run-ins with banned substance violators, Wilder is tired of what he’s had to deal with during his championship reign.
“It just saddens me, man,” said Wilder’s at a press conference. “It makes me re-evaluate my career. It almost made me lose the love of boxing for a little bit as well too because of certain things and activities that has been known in this sport with these guys avoiding or wanting to get on bad substances when they know they’re not supposed to be taking it in the first place.”
Joshua has never been accused of using banned substances and also has a Gold Olympic medal to Wilder’s Bronze. The two are at the top of their game right now, and with Joshua recently dispatching Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 fans, his star is brighter than ever.
Were going to have to put that Klitschko win to the side at some stage because boxing is unforgiving, Joshua said at Thursday’s press conference. That was that. This is now. Carlos is a completely different animal than Klitschko. Who knows whats going to happen in that ring Saturday. This division is unpredictable. You saw I got tired in the fifth round against Klitschko. Am I going to find out Im only a five-round fighter? Takam is tough and can go the distance. Hes definitely going to take me into late waters and thats where its going to be interesting.
Anthony Joshua Defeats Wladimir Klitschko via TKO | SHOWTIME Boxing
Anthony Joshua was crowned the king of the heavyweight division as he unified the division with an 11th round TKO of long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko before a record 90,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium.
With the very probable outcomes of a Joshua victory and a repeat of Wilder’s championship win over Stiverne, the biggest fight in the heavyweight division that anyone wants to see right nowis Wilder vs. Joshua.
Al Haymon is the lead adviser to Wilder and is the smartest man in boxing by far. Joshua is promoted by the best promoter in boxing, Eddie Hearn,`who also promotes a U.S. based Haymon fighter, Danny Jacobs.
The two eventually clashing is inevitable, but what’s also usually inevitable in boxing is politics and delays due to unreasonable negotiations. According to Hearn, Wilder wants a guarantee of $7 million dollars to fight Joshua. But with neither being proven as pay-per-view stars, Hearn said in not so many words that was a pipe-dream purse for Wilder.
It is clear that the heavyweight ranks need some work to reclaim its former position as boxing’s glory division, but the only fight that sets it back on that lofty course is Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua.
