ANTHONY JOSHUA’S Christmas cracker with Deontay Wilder is going up the chimney in smoke.
The 33-year-old London 2012 legend turned down a December fight with Tyson Fury because his promoter Eddie Hearn told the world the Saudi Arabia showdown with the Bronze Bomber was “locked in”.
The overdue shootout was planned for Boxing Day 2023 – with Hearn working with Saudi promoters Skills Challenge – but then worryingly nudged into January.
But now Hearn admits they are having to explore other options as none of the plans and promises seem to be coming to fruition.
And now Turki AlShikh – minister at the Royal Court and the chairman of general authority for entertainment that is helping host Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou – has claimed that any big Saudi fights only go through him and the rest are rumours.
At the launch press conference for the October 28 Riyadh bout between the WBC Gypsy King and the former UFC heavyweight champ, His Excellency said: “There is an important thing I want to say about this fight and the future.
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“There are a lot of rumours in the market and I hope boxing fans don’t listen or care about rumours until they have something official from our side.
“There are a lot of people talking about fights in Saudi Arabia or meeting me but I never met anyone except Frank Warren and Bob Arum (Fury’s joint promoters) and Tyson Fury and Ngannou’s teams.
“Any other surprises we want to do, you will hear about at the right time.”
The red-carpet rant from the hugely powerful figure looks devastating for the clash fight fans have been hoping for.
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Super-salesman Hearn has been flogging Joshua vs Wilder as a dead cert for months.
But the deafening silence on a definite date makes it look like AJ will have to find another opponent for December.
Hearn said: “Our fight with Wilder hasn’t changed in the last three or four days since we sat down.
“From my position, we want to just try and nail the Wilder fight.
“The Wilder fight is the one we’ve been talking about for a few months now and we want to try and progress it.
“AJ Wants to fight, he’s really enjoying the activity. If he can’t fight in January I think I think you’ll see him in December.
“But still, our intention is to close the Wilder deal.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
