Las Vegas may now be an option for Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua as Saudi Arabia is seemingly backing away from heavyweight boxing's mega bout.
Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn, who has promoted Joshua since the British fighter turned pro in 2013, said to Boxing Social recently that "there have been months of conversations with Saudi Arabia and individually with Joshua and Wilder."
He said the two fighters agreed regarding financial arrangements but there has been no contract from the Middle East, and said: "We're a little bit in limbo."
Hearn added: "We’re working with people we’re working with before and when they tell us it’s done, generally it’s done. On this occasion it’s not yet done."
A bout between Wilder and Joshua would continue 2023's theme of making some of the biggest bouts possible, and though Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk could compete for a technically superior fight involving all of the division's major titles, a contest between the American and British puncher would likely draw more eyes.
Earlier this year, David Benavidez's win over Caleb Plant on Showtime PPV, and Devin Haney's competitive decision over Vasiliy Lomachenko on ESPN PPV, both drew approximately 150,000 sales at the box office.
Follow this link, If you want to read our analysis on the Lomachenko vs Haney Fight 🥊
Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia was a home run as it generated around 1.2 million sales, while 700,000 homes in the US bought Terence Crawford's all-time victory over Errol Spence in July.
It is unclear how a fight between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Jermell Charlo this month will fare at the box office but a heavyweight battle involving two of the sport's biggest names will no doubt push the million sales barrier if and when it gets booked.
Hearn told Boxing Social that he's spoken to both his client Joshua, and Wilder's manager Shelley Finkel, and knows everybody involved in the fighter and representation side wants to see the bout get made.
"That fight is [one of the] top two fights in world boxing in terms of its size so we’re not limited to doing that fight in Saudia Arabia or the Middle East," he said.
"Now, I want to start looking at alternative venues. Whether that’s a site fee, whether that’s Las Vegas, whether that’s Wembley [Stadium]."
Hearn also said that if the big fight gets pushed into the first quarter, or second, in 2024, then he'll look to match Joshua in a stay-busy fight before the end of the year.
