Wilder to Joshua after Chisora win: 'Let's do it'
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- Deontay Wilder defeated Derek Chisora by split decision (115-111, 115-113, 115-112) at London's O2 Arena in what is expected to be Chisora's final professional bout, improving Wilder's record to 45 wins in 50 fights; Wilder said afterwards he may have a small fracture in his hand.
- Wilder walked past Anthony Joshua at ringside, fist-bumped him, said "let's do it," then muttered "He's scared" as he walked away, later declaring: "You can call me Mr Clean, because I want to clean up the whole division."
- Joshua, 36, has largely been out of the spotlight since a 29 December car crash in Nigeria killed two of his friends — Sina Ghami and Latif 'Latz' Ayodele — and left the former two-time world heavyweight champion with minor injuries.
- Promoter Eddie Hearn told DAZN the team has been focused on a Tyson Fury fight, but added that a Wilder win "opens a big fight with Anthony Joshua as well," telling Fight Hub TV that Joshua gave Wilder an "ice cold" stare but "would fight him no problem."
- A Joshua-Wilder bout was previously booked for 2024 but collapsed after Wilder suffered a shock loss to Joseph Parker; the 40-year-old has not looked the same since his trilogy with Fury, in which he lost the WBC heavyweight title in 2020.
Why it matters: For boxing fans, this reignites a long-targeted heavyweight showdown that fell apart in 2024 when Wilder lost to Parker — and Hearn's pre-fight comment to DAZN confirms the fight is back on the table. The reality underneath the theatre: both men are deep into the legacy-payday phase (Wilder 40 and visibly declining since the Fury trilogy, Joshua 29-4 and returning from a car-crash layoff that killed two friends), so a bout now matters more for closure than for divisional supremacy.
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