DEONTAY WILDER called out Anthony Joshua after defeating Derek Chisora on Saturday.
The Bronze Bomber is trying to finally bring a long-awaited confrontation between the pair to life.
Just moments after securing the win over Chisora on the judges scorecards, Wilder set his sights on another Brit in Joshua.
When leaving the arena, the 6ft 7in heavyweight bumped fists with Joshua, before calling him out to his face.
As he passed the 36-year-old, Wilder said: “Let’s do it, let’s do it.”
Joshua grinned to himself as Wilder continued past him, before the American said to his entourage: “He’s scared as f***, let’s do it.”
Matchroom boxing chief Eddie Hearn was also on the scene to witness the callout, and managed a wry smile of disbelief, but he did nothing to shut down some immediate questions about whether the fight could happen.
It would be a bout a decade in the making, with whispers around a matchup originally beginning in 2015.
Wilder had become the WBC Heavyweight title holder with a win over Bermane Stiverne, a title he would defend three times in the next year alone.
Meanwhile Joshua was proving himself as an up-and-comer, and held the WBC International heavyweight title.
SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS
Wilder said of a fight that November: “Once he is ready to fight for the title I’m going to be around.
“I’m not going nowhere, no matter who I fight. I think if we fought it would be an exciting fight.”
Things between the pair continued to heat up into 2016, where Joshua named him alongside Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte on his three-man hitlist in the heavyweight division.
But nothing materialised at the time, with both going on to have extremely successful careers in the decade since, though struggling to maintain their peaks in the sport of late.
Wilder went from having a perfect record to suffering four losses in five fights between 2020 and 2024.
Those results included his two bouts with Fury and defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
Meanwhile, Joshua last competed for a title when he suffered a shock knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in 2024.
His only fight since was against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul at the end of 2025.
But his future in the sport has been left even more uncertain by a tragic car accident that left him injured and two of his friends dead.
AJ has been back in training since, and there is clearly growing tension between him and Wilder, who blanked him on his arrival to the O2 for the Chisora bout.
The Home of Boxing in 2026
There’s a massive year of boxing ahead!
It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year of action inside the boxing ring.
Tyson Fury will make his return in April against Arslanbek Makhmudov while Oleksandr Usyk takes on the king of kickboxing Rico Verhoeven.
Conor Benn features for the first time since making the switch to Zuffa Boxing and Fabio Wardley will defend his newly won heavyweight crown.
Canelo Alvarez will be hoping to return after his defeat to Terence Crawford and heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk will also defend his straps.
Derek Chisora will fight for the 50th and (perhaps) final time against Deontay Wilder while Daniel Dubois is also on the comeback trail.
A whole bunch of British stars could also take a leap into superstardom, with the likes of Moses Itauma, Hamzah Sheeraz and Adam Azim ready to join the very top of the sport.
Here’s all the big fights coming up…
April
- Sat 4 – Deontay Wilder vs Derek Chisora – DAZN PPV
- Sun 5 – Caroline Dubois vs Terri Harper – Sky Sports
- Sat 11 – Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov – Netflix
- Sat 11 – Conor Benn vs Regis Prograis – Netflix
- Sat 18 – Callum Smith vs David Morrell – DAZN
- Sat 18 – Manny Pacquiao vs Ruslan Provodnikov
- Sat 25 – Lawrence Okolie vs Tony Yoka – DAZN
May
- Sat 2 – Naoya Inoue vs Junto Nakatani – Undisputed super-bantamweight title – TBC
- Sat 2 – Zurdo Ramirez vs David Benavidez – WBA & WBO Cruiserweight titles – Prime Video
- Sat 9 – Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois – WBO title – DAZN PPV
- Sat 16 – Dave Allen vs Filip Hrgovic – DAZN
- Sat 23 – Oleksandr Usyk vs Rico Verhoeven – WBC title – DAZN
June
- Sat 6 – Dalton Smith vs Alberto Puello – WBC super lightweight title – DAZN
- Sat 13 – Tommy Fury vs Eddie Hall – DAZN
*If you click a link in this boxout, we will earn affiliate revenue.
