New hurdle arises on road to Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder
Deontay Wilder could be set for a fight with Jared Anderson in August, likely thwarting any chance that the “Bronze Bomber” faces Anthony Joshua in September.
Joshua recently revealed that his next fight is due to take place at Wembley Stadium on 20 or 21 September, adding last week that there are four potential opponents for that date.
According to the former world champion, he will fight whichever heavyweight impresses most on 1 June, when Wilder faces Zhilei Zhang and Daniel Dubois boxes Filip Hrgovic.
That is per a plan by Turki Al-Sheikh, the Saudi adviser behind the Gulf state’s recent boxing endeavours. However, Al-Sheikh has now said Wilder will box fellow American Jared Anderson on 3 August, if he beats Zhang in Riyadh and stays fit.
Al-Sheikh tweeted on Tuesday (30 April): “The talented Jared Anderson is with us now on [the] August 3rd Riyadh Season card at LA, against the ‘Bronze Bomber’ Deontay Wilder - if he’s ready by then to fight after 1st of June’s fight against Zhilei Zhang.”
That development could act as a hurdle to Joshua vs Wilder, a fight that has fallen through more than once – most recently in December, when “AJ” beat Otto Wallin but Wilder lost to Joseph Parker at the same event.
Wilder vs Anderson would take place on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov, which tops a Saudi-staged card in Los Angeles.
Briton Joshua last fought in March, knocking out former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in Riyadh. On Monday, Ngannou announced that his 15-month-old son Kobe had died on Saturday.
