Report: Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder to Have Separate Bouts on Dec. 23 Fight Card

While boxing fans have been clamoring for a fight between heavyweight superstars Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, they will have to wait a while longer.

ESPN's Mike Coppinger reported on Tuesday that both Joshua and Wilder have been booked for a card on Dec. 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but they will be in separate fights. Joshua will be taking on Otto Wallin while Wilder will face Joseph Parker.

Dan Rafael added that Dmitry Bivol will have a title bout on the card, with Richie Rivera as his opponent:

Rafael first reported Nov. 11 that the fights featuring Joshua and Wilder were in the works.

The previously planned undisputed heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for Dec. 23 had to be pushed back following Fury's harrowing 10-round exhibition fight against Francis Ngannou last month. While Fury won a split decision, he was knocked down during the fight and visibly battered afterward.

Despite Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) and Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) being the two most popular heavyweights outside of Fury and Usyk, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn isn't interested in making a fight between the two of them until next year.

"I don't want to go on about the Wilder fight, but I think that's March or April," Hearn said when speaking to Boxing Social earlier this month.

Boxing analyst Carl Froch recently spoke to talkSPORT Boxing and expressed his disappointment in Hearn not putting together a marquee matchup between Joshua and Wilder.

"I put the blame totally on Eddie Hearn or Anthony Joshua, because if AJ wanted to fight Wilder and he thought he was confident enough to make a statement and fight somebody like Wilder, then what a statement would that be, it's a mega fight," Froch said. "Now that's been pulled the fans have had the rug pulled from under our feet."

Despite the disappointment, Wallin and Parker are no slouches. Wallin (26-1, 14 KOs) previously gave Fury a tough fight and cut him when they faced each other in 2019. Parker (33-3, 23 KOs) is a former WBO champion. If both Joshua and Wilder are victorious in their respective matchups on Dec. 23, it could open the door for them to face each other in early 2024.