Eddie Hearn says Deontay Wilder vs Anthony Joshua fight is off and it would be a ‘mismatch’

A highly anticipated clash between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder does not seem like it will be happening anytime soon.

The two men both fought in December, with Joshua taking on Otto Wallin while Wilder clashed with Joseph Parker, with the expectation that the pair would fight each other next.

Joshua put together an excellent performance, as he out-boxed Wallin over five rounds and then stopped him to record his third victory of the year.

Wilder, however, suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Parker who fought with tremendous discipline to win by unanimous decision.

As such, it looks as if the Wilder vs Joshua fight will not be happening next.

And promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed this, as he told IFL TV: “The fight’s dead for now…

“The people who wanted to put the fight on no longer see that as the fight that it was.

“The numbers don’t work now because Wilder’s a busted flush at the moment.

“It’s a mismatch in my opinion.”

As for who Joshua will fight next, Hearn named Zhilei Zhang, Filip Hrgovic and Francis Ngannou as potential options.

And should the Brit win his next contest, he could be in line to take on the winner of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk that will take place on February 17 for the undisputed heavyweight world titles.

In terms of Wilder, there was some speculation that he might retire following his most recent defeat, but ‘The Bronze Bomber’ insists that we will see him back in the ring again.

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