Anthony Joshua was KO’d by Daniel Dubois
Turki Alalshikh has expressed his desire to see a fight between and , assuming remains retired.
Joshua’s hopes of becoming a world champion for the third time were dashed when he was knocked out by British rival Daniel Dubois in September. Joshua was floored four times before suffering a crushing defeat in the fifth round at Wembley Stadium. As for ‘The Bronze Bomber,’ the American’s career is somewhat at a crossroads after consecutive losses to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
Despite calls for Wilder to retire, the 39 year old is reportedly planning a return to the ring. He is expected to face Curtis Harper in April. And speaking on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan on Thursday about Fury’s recent announcement and his plans for Joshua, Saudi boxing chief Alalshikh believes a bout with Wilder should be next for ‘AJ. ‘ “If you want something about the British markets, I want to see Joshua and Wilder now,” he said. “If Tyson is not available why not Joshua and Wilder?”
Simon Jordan concurred with Saudi boxing chief Khaled Alalshikh, asserting: “I can understand why people would want to see it. I mean I’d like to see Joshua fight someone like [Martin] Bakole. I think there’s real jeopardy in that fight. I’d like to see Joshua fighting someone that was at the front of their career.”
Alalshikh added: “We finished the deal with Bakole against the Nigerian fighters. [Efe] Ajagba or something like that. We finished that as they must do it because this is mandatory for the IBF. Then after that we are open to see Joshua also against Bakole. I want to see this fight right. I want to see it but you know where I want to see it. I want to see it in Africa.”
In a surprising move on Monday, Fury announced his retirement, sending shockwaves through the boxing community. The decision came after his disappointing rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last month.
In a brief statement, Fury declared: “Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet,” adding, “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing, it has been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it and I’m going to end with this; Dick Turpin wore a mask.”
Fury’s recent announcement has dashed hopes of a much-anticipated all-British clash with Joshua in 2025. However, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn insisted ‘AJ’ has a plethora of choices for his next bout. Potential opponents include Bakole, Dillian Whyte, Wilder, Zhang, Agit Kabayel, Dubois, and Parker as the two-time world champion aims to return to winning ways this year.