Joshua may face Wilder in February

Eddie Hearn has given Deontay Wilder’s team until the end of the week to agree to a fight with Anthony Joshua in 2018 or he will press ahead with plans for a September showdown with Alexander
Povetkin.

Talks are ongoing regarding a unification fight between the world’s two undefeated heavyweight champions.

Hearn’s father Barry even met with Wilder’s advisor Shelly Finkel in New York on Friday in a bid to finally thrash out a deal for a winter clash between IBF, WBA and WBO champ Joshua and Wilder, who holds the WBC belt.

But now Hearn Jnr has admitted that the chances of that fight happening in 2018 are slim, with Joshua now seemingly set to take on mandatory challenger Povetkin in September.

And that would mean Joshua-Wilder, which would produce the first ever heavyweight to hold all four major belts at once, may have to wait until February at the earliest.

Hearn said: ‘My dad met with Shelly and there are now frequent conversations. Those two met on Friday, they emailed us on Monday morning and we are getting back to them.
‘I think it will get done but the WBA are asking us every day and we are extending this negotiation period all the time.

‘At the moment, we are fighting Povetkin. I think we have to make a call by the end of the week really.
‘We want to fight in September but September doesn’t work with Wilder because of Showtime. If we fight Wilder it would probably be October, November but if we fight Povetkin it will be
September.
‘If Povetkin is September then Wilder probably won’t happen until February.’

Povetkin’s last outing came on the undercard of Joshua’s victory over Joseph Parker in March, when the Russian visitor knocked out David Price in the fifth round at the Principality Stadium.
And, although Joshua and Povetkin are unlikely to return to Cardiff for their potential clash, they are set to meet in another of Britain’s major stadia.

Hearn said: ‘Any fight against Povetkin will definitely be over here. Wembley is likely but so is the Olympic Stadium or Twickenham. That could be on September 15 or 22 but there is also
the 8th which is available at Old Trafford.’
Hearn insists Joshua is very keen to ensure his first fight with Wilder should take place on British soil, despite Las Vegas representing a more lucrative option.