Deontay Wilder set to miss out on the fight he wants next as heavyweight plans shift

Deontay Wilder is unlikely to secure his preferred fight after edging a split decision against fellow veteran Derek Chisora earlier this month.

The pair locked horns in a chaotic battle at London’s O2 Arena, with Wilder scoring two knockdowns en route to his 12-round points victory.

Prior to that, the 40-year-old had claimed just one win, a seventh-round finish over little-known heavyweight Tyrrell Herndon, following his back-to-back defeats against Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker.

These two blemishes came in 2024 and 2023, respectively, and strengthened a growing belief that ‘The Bronze Bomber’ is on the brink of retirement.

Since then, though, Wilder has insisted that he wishes to remain in the sport, particularly with a view to secure a long-talked-about showdown against Anthony Joshua, recently telling the Brit to ‘put up or shut up.’

The pair have been on a collision course for what feels like an age, ever since they held all four major heavyweight titles between them.

But while both competitors would likely be keen to enter a non-title fight later this year, Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn has expressed a slightly different desire.

Speaking with talkSPORT, Joshua’s long-time promoter mentioned a potential outing this summer, ahead of what he hopes will be a Tyson Fury clash in November.

“If we were promoting the event [this summer], that’s exactly what I’d be doing [making the Wilder fight].

“But this is a deal put to us with Fury against ‘AJ’ as the mountain top of that deal. There’ll be a lot of people that won’t want to go into a fight that they feel is risky, and put [the Fury fight in] jeopardy.

“The reality is [that] all fights are risky, especially in that division. We have no problem fighting Wilder. [But] I don’t think it will be Wilder [on] the basis of this deal.”

This deal is set to involve two fights with Turki Alalshikh, allowing Joshua to enter the ring before facing Fury at the end of 2026.

Such an agreement would see him fight for the first time since his sixth-round finish over Jake Paul in December, which preceded the tragic car crash that took the lives of his two close friends.