BOXING fans have reacted furiously after Deontay Wilder blew his £100m showdown with Anthony Joshua and slammed “greedy” matchmakers.
The ex-WBC champion and Brit were in line for a bumper 2024 mega-fight if they could both come through their Day of Reckoning bouts – which AJ did by dominating Otto Wallin.
GettyJoseph Parker was celebrating after beating Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia[/caption]
ReutersThe Bronze Bomber’s defeat has now scuppered a superfight with Anthony Joshua[/caption]
The fight had been years in the making after accusations from each star’s camps that one was ducking the other.
But fans were finally excited to hear this week that the Bronze Bomber and AJ were set to finally collide in the coming months.
Now that clash has gone up in smoke after 38-year-old Wilder was battered by Parker all over Saudi Arabia in a shock upset.
That fantasy fight is now a nightmare after the judges called the one-sided schooling: 118-111, 118-110, 120-108.
And fans were left asking “when will boxing learn” after the years of haggling and negotiations denied everyone the opportunity of seeing the two stars collide at their peak.
Sky Sports’ boxing analyst Dave Coldwell was amongst the first to vent his frustration on social media.
He wrote: “When a fight is hot. Make the f***ing fight!
“Fighters and promoters stop trying to bump up the price, stop trying to make it even bigger – if it’s a good fight do the rematch and that will be bigger.
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“AJ v Wilder. Another huge fight we never got to see.”
Another supporter said: “When will heavyweight boxing learn? Just make the fights people want to see.”
“Wilder V Joshua, should’ve happened in 2018 smh,” commented another.
A fourth raged: “This is what I hate about boxing, joshua v wilder/fury have all been ruined by politics, they all should have fought years ago and now the fights don’t hold the same value anymore.”
And a fifth fumed: “Wilder just ruined our chances of ever getting the mega fight against Joshua.”
At least AJ kept his part of the deal, producing a great performance that left Wallin unable to continue at the end of the fifth round.
It now remains to be seen who will be next in line for AJ after he finished 2023 with three wins out of three.
When asked about facing Wilder after his win, AJ said: “Listen, look at Dubois this evening. You can do anything if you keep on striving. I’m sure he’ll {Wilder] will be back.
“I’m sure everyone still wants to see that fight.”
GettyAnthony Joshua refused to rule out facing the Bronze Bomber[/caption]