Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing is set to offer a fight for WBC Heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder to take on his fighter, IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“We’re going to put an offer together this week and look to continue the conversation with Wilder’s team,” Hearn said.
“We’ll be talking about whether Joshua fights again in July or August or we go straight into a Wilder fight in October or November,” Hearn said.
“I spoke to Stephen Espinoza to talk about mapping it out, and he said [a Joshua-Wilder fight] works best for him in September or December.”
“I said we either fight in July or August and then we see what happens, but I want to do a deal now,” Hearn said. “Even if we both fight this summer, I am looking to reach an agreement on this fight prior to our next fight, where we have already signed to fight Wilder in December. Because of the fan demand, it’s important that the fight is actually made now even if they fight one more fight.”
“What I am saying is that I want to make the Joshua-Wilder fight in 2018,” Hearn said. “The question is do we have a fight in the summer and then box Wilder in December or do we go straight into the fight in September or October. That is one of the things I will be speaking with Joshua and Rob about. But the only way I think we should have an interim fight is if the Wilder fight is signed.
“We want it. Joshua wants it bad. It’s the biggest fight in world boxing and it’s for the undisputed world championship. Nobody should be saying Joshua doesn’t want it. He wants it. Look at what he has already done in 21 fights. Nobody should doubt his desire to be in these big fights.”