Deontay Wilder targeted for blockbuster showdown with Joseph Parker after Tyson Fury loss

BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom has revealed he is targeting a mouth-watering heavyweight epic between Joseph Parker and Deontay Wilder. Parker recently signed an exclusive long-term agreement with Shalom’s promotional outfit and is expected to return to the ring in September.

The New Zealander has expressed his willingness to fight British powerhouse, Joe Joyce. The pair were expected to square off in July, but Parker’s promotional switch put a spanner in the works. Now, Joyce has announced he will return to the ring on September 24 after his bout with Christian Hammer this Saturday.

Shalom will be targeting this fight first and foremost but has also revealed a list of potential future opponents including former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. “It was the first fight Joseph Parker wanted to make [the Joe Joyce fight], he wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t ducking Joe Joyce,” Shalom told Sky Sports.

“Obviously, it’s been well documented that we would love that fight and we hope that it might still happen. But if it’s not going to happen, that was the number one, we’re looking at everything, we’re looking at Wallin, we’re looking at Franklin, we’re even looking at Wilder now that he’s back in the mix, and obviously perhaps the Dillian Whyte rematch. The Great thing about Joseph is, that he wants the big fights, and he will be fighting at the end of September.”

Should an agreement not be reached between Parker and Joyce, Shalom will be hoping he can secure the Wilder super fight. When asked about the potential the magnitude of the fight, Shalom responded: “It’s great, I mean there is so many heavyweights out there right now, I wish they’d all just start fighting each other, Andy Ruiz, Deontay Wilder, Joseph Parker, Joe Joyce, Daniel Dubois who had an amazing win a couple of weeks ago as well.

“There’s a lot of heavyweights and they need to get in the ring with each other and I hope the broadcasters, the promoters can get together and make it happen. But Deontay Wilder I think we’ve seen now how good Tyson Fury is so the fact that they had a trilogy, and it was that close and there was the ups and the downs. He’s a serious fighter and he’s going to cause problems for anyone and so it’s brilliant to see him back in the division and hopefully, he gets those big fights soon.”

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There was a lot of speculation about whether Wilder would return to the sport after losing the third fight against Tyson Fury in October last year. But ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has recently come out to squash the talk and is expected to return to the ring this year. Wilder is currently 42-2-1 as a professional with his only blemishes — two losses and a draw – coming against ‘The Gypsy King.’