Shelly Finkel, co-manager to heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder, says there is no issue with facing Anthony Joshua in 2023.
Wilder returned earlier this month, with a vicious one-punch knockout of Robert Helenius in the first round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The victory allowed Wilder to bounce back after back-to-back stoppage losses at the hands of current WBC world champion Tyson Fury.
Eddie Hearn, promoter for Joshua, had contacted Finkel a few months ago to discuss a potential fight – but the veteran manager advised him that Wilder was first focused on his bout with Helenius.
“A couple of months ago, Eddie Hearn sent us a letter, and we said the most important thing is Deontay training and doing what he did [with Helenius],” Finkel told Fight Hub TV.
“Now that he’s done it, we’ll see if Eddie will come with the truckloads of money he said and the Joshua deal that he said. We’re here. He knows how to reach us, so we’ll see. We’ll see if [the knockout of Helenius] changed his mind.”
Joshua, who is likely returning in early 2023, is also looking to bounce back after suffering back-to-back decision losses to current unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Wilder admits a fight with Joshua should have taken place several years ago – when they were both world champions.
He still feels strongly that a showdown with the British star is still one of the biggest fights in boxing.
“Me and Joshua should have fought years ago, I could have been the undisputed champion. The chance isn’t gone, we are both still in the business of fighting so that opportunity will always be there,” Wilder told The Good Fight.
“People still always stop me and ask when I’m fighting Joshua. Some people still think that’s the biggest fight in the world, between us two. It is the number-one match-up that people still always ask me about. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ the fight happens. It’s a matter of when, we just need the tight timing.
“We will not fall in line with Eddie Hearn’s games. They drained us. We dealt with Eddie Hearn for around six months and they just gave us the round around. They have their story, which they tell everyone, but I know the facts and he is a big manipulator.”
