Boxing: Here’s why Deontay Wilder is out of world title scene

Promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that Anthony Joshua’s two fight-deal with Tyson Fury would mean that Deontay Wilder will not receive a world title shot for over a year.

WBC champion, Tyson Fury, after failing to agree terms that would see a trilogy clash with Wilder happen, announced this month that he had ended his interest in the bout and would instead seek a homecoming fight in December.

Unified champion Joshua returns in the same month to defend his WBA, IBF, and WBO belts against Kubrat Pulev on December 12. Hearn believes the British rivals can then finalise two blockbuster fights next year.

“Wilder? I don’t know any fighter that wouldn’t want the rematch,” says Hearn. “But I want to hear him. He’s gone missing.

“[Fury’s American promoter] Bob Arum says the contract has expired? What sort of contract was this? We’re coming off a global pandemic and the force majeure would cover them. It’s all really weird.

“Wilder has missed the boat. He won’t get a shot at the world title until 2022 onwards because we are going to have two fights [with Fury] next year if we beat Pulev.

“Maybe he is done. You wouldn’t hold it against him. But I don’t understand the situation.”

Joshua playfully questioned Wilder‘s prolonged silence, asking if the American is plotting his revenge.

“The world is cruel. You’ve got to have a thick skin,” Joshua tells reporters. “Either he’s putting together a master plan – he’s in a lab right now, with his science glasses on, studying Fury’s every move. Either he’s doing that, or he’s sitting at the edge of that lake, with his head in his hands and thinking, ‘What’s going on?’

“One minute you’re on top of the world, and the next minute you’re not. That’s the name of the game we’re in.”

Hearn is looking to stage the two Joshua-Fury fights on dates around April to June and November to December, to ideally set the tone as undisputed world heavyweight champion.

But the Matchroom boss has revealed how Joshua was unwavering in his desire to regain his world titles in a rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr, with Hearn raising doubts about whether Wilder will even resume his own career.

He tells Sky Sports: “AJ didn’t say too much apart from ‘I want the rematch’. This is what I would like to hear from Wilder.

“But he’s his own man. If this guy has earned his money and is going to walk off into the sunset, then good luck to him. But you also need pride and legacy, that’s key.“