By: Michael Kane
Eddie Hearn has revealed that he keeps being told Deontay Wilder has a further two fights lined up for after the Dominic Breazeale fight. Unfortunately they are not against either Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury.
According to Hearn, Wilder will face Luis Ortiz and Adam Kownacki in his next fights. Pushing a likely unification fight with Anthony Joshua to next year at the earliest. Wilder defends his WBC Heavyweight title against Dominic Breazeale on May 18th.
August 8, 2018; Chicago, IL, USA; Eddie Hearn speaks at the press conference announcing the October 6, 2018 Matchroom Boxing USA card at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing USA
Hearn told Barbershop Conversations: “Everybody in the business tells me that he [Wilder] has been told and all these fighters have been told that his next fights are Ortiz and Kownacki.
“That worries me because the only fight we want next is Deontay.
“They’ve got a plan to fight these other guys in place.”
This news will likely disappoint fans who had hopes of seeing either a Wilder rematch with Tyson Fury or an unification fight with Anthony Joshua.
Hearn is in the U.S this week ahead of the Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs fight this weekend. It seems we are likely also to hear of who Anthony Joshua will face in New York on June 1st.
Andy Ruiz is expected to be confirmed to replace Jarrell Miller, who failed a drug test. The news is likely to be confirmed in the next day or so.
Hearn also unwittingly gave a big hint when asked by reporters if Ruiz will be confirmed a few days ago.
He said: “Yeah, this weekend you’ll get it.”
Plans for Joshua’s U.S debut haven’t gone smoothly, first there were complaints about him facing Miller, then Miller failed a drug test. We then had reports that Luis Ortiz wasn’t taking the fight due to a low ball offer, which Hearn has denied, saying he was being kept back for Wilder.
Now it seems Ruiz is the opponent in a fight that will not whet the appetite of boxing fans in either the U.S or UK.