Joshua vs. Wilder tagged by Turki Al-Sheikh for Heavyweight Clash

Turki Al-Sheikh wants to see a fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder next. It’s a fight that will attract a lot of interest from fans around the world, despite the fact that both former heavyweight champions are past their primes.

Joshua-Wilder is a fight the boxing world has wanted to see for the past decade, but the two have never been able to come to an agreement. Deontay’s right hand is like an old land mineburied in the earth for 60 years, but still dangerous. If Joshua activates Deontay’s right hand, he will sleep.

Wilder’s career has sunk lower than Joshua’s, but the two are pretty much on par chin-wise. Joshua, 35, was knocked out in five rounds by IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21 in London.

Turki’s plan

If Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) gets through this fight against former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs), Turki wants him to fight contender Martin Bakole in Africa. Bakole will fight Efe Ajagba in his next fight.

“I want to see Joshua and Wilder now. If Tyson is not available, why not Joshua and Wilder?” said Turki Al-Sheikh a talkSport Boxing about wanting to fight the recently defeated Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua.

“We finished the fight between Bakole and the Nigerian fighter, Ajagba. After that, we want to see Joshua against Bakole. Me, I want to see this fight. You know where I want to see it? I want to see it in Africa.”

Wilder has a confidence booster against official Curtis Harper on April 26 at BLK Prime in Atlanta. Given Deontay’s poor form over the past five years, a win for the 36-year-old Harper can’t be ruled out.

Turki hasn’t said if he’d still be interested in using Deontay as an opponent for AJ if he’s defeated by Harper, but you’d have to assume that would make him ineligible. Wilder’s record would be 1-5 in his last six fights.

It’s bad enough that Deontay has lost four of his last five fights, but a loss to former veteran Harper would be a clear sign that he’s not worth using as an opponent for Joshua.