Eddie Hearn denies deal is done for Joshua to face Wilder next year | Boxing News

EDDIE HEARN has told Boxing News that a deal for Anthony Joshua to face Deontay Wilder next year is “definitely not done”.

Recent reports have suggested the two former heavyweight belt holders will fight one another on March 9 in Riyadh, but Hearn refutes this claim.

“No. The talks continue,” Hearn revealed to Boxing News. “We’re not really going to go into too much before the fight (between Joshua and Otto Wallin). I’ve seen reports from other journalists, and they were incorrect. Dan Rafael will hear something from someone… the only people that know the truth is myself, Turki Al-Sheikh, his excellency, [and] AJ’s team.

“Will there be an announcement on Saturday if he wins? If Wilder wins? If they’re unscathed? Maybe. Can I say there will be? No, I can’t say that right now so that should answer your question.”

After Saturday’s fights are finished, there will be 11 weeks until the rumoured March 9 date.

“There’s a lot of things that have got to happen for that fight to get done,” Hearn said. “It’s definitely not done yet and it can’t be done anyway until after Saturday night. We saw with (Tyson) Fury and (Oleksandr) Usyk that was supposed to be (taking place on) December 23. All of a sudden Fury gets dropped (by Francis Ngannou). For a turnaround to March you can’t just win on Saturday, you’ve got to win unscathed. Now, that’s very difficult to do in a big heavyweight fight.”