"Completely ruined by greed" - Boxing fans left heartbroken as news of Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua cancellation surfaces
The heavyweight banger between former unified champion Anthony Joshua and former WBC champion Deontay Wilder was one that fans have been clamoring for a long time.
However, as per a new report by BBC Sport, the super fight, which was meant to take place in January 2024 in Saudi Arabia, has been cancelled, with a possibility of being remade sometime later next year.
Naturally, boxing fans became enraged by the unfavorable outcome and have unleashed their wrath on social media. Let's take a look at a few reactions below.
A disheartened fan, @NufcPeter, wrote:
"Awful sport now. Completely ruined by greed, going to start watching WWE again. 😂"
@the1andOWENLY wrote:
"Heavyweight boxing is finished."
Comending fighters like Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford for their willingness to face high-level competition, @AJSmith2016 wrote:
"If it wasn't for [Terence] Crawford, [Eroll] Spence, [Devin] Hane[y], and Canelo [Alvarez] this sport would be dead."
@Mufc__Jon opined:
"Think everyone stopped caring about boxing. UFC fighters just have top-quality scraps every week, and boxing, you get this."
X user @Tom1Green22 speculated:
"This fight is never going to happen. Not in a million years. Hearn was just pretending it was 'locked in' & 'contracts will be signed next week' in order to trick the public into watching AJ vs. Franklin/Helenius."
Another boxing fan, @mickybhoy55, wrote:
"The heavyweight division is utterly farcical."
@floody_s opined:
"Let's just be honest, it's [Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder] never gonna happen!"
Fight fan @JoeAlle80349123, reasoned:
"Heavyweight boxing is a joke. No Fury [vs.] Usyk, no Wilder [vs.] Joshua. Instead, we get a pointless exhibition fight and a load of inactivity."
@jeremy_j1886 wrote:
"Boxing, in particular the heavyweight division, needs to regulate matchmaking. Fighters shouldn’t be able to hold a belt without having fought a top 3 opponent in the past 12 months."
@United_Theory opined:
"Scrap the whole [heavyweight] division."
Deontay Wilder predicts knockout win over Anthony Joshua
Deontay Wilder is widely regarded as the hardest-hitting heavyweight boxer of this generation. 'The Bronze Bomber' boasts a 97.6% finish rate with 42 knockout wins on his resume. The former WBC champion believes Anthony Joshua is going to bite the dust when they meet in the ring.
Speaking to ESNEWS about a potential fight against the Brit in Saudi Arabia this year, Wilder said:
"I mean, I'll just keep it sweet. I'll give Saudi [Arabia] their first knockout victim. I can deliver that for you. You know they haven't had that much excitement... I'm going to blast him real good."
Catch Deontay Wilder's comments on Anthony Joshua below (1:17):