Promoter: If Anthony Joshua wins vs. Joseph Parker, Deontay Wilder is ‘probably’ next

With WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) notching the biggest win of his career last Saturday, demand for the American to battle England’s Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) is higher than ever.

Joshua, who holds the IBF and WBA belts, will take on WBO champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) on March 31st at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. While Parker is no doubt a formidable opponent, Joshua is expected to come out victorious, setting the stage for him and Wilder to unify all major heavyweight titles and create an “undisputed champion.”

Wilder is very much interested in taking on Joshua, but is the feeling mutual? Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn spoke to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, and he indicated that Wilder would likely be next if Joshua prevails against Parker.

“I think the answer’s probably yes,” Hearn said. “There’ll be too much pressure for that fight, not just from the fans, but from Anthony Joshua. People don’t know him like I know him.

“He wants that fight. He sees Wilder as a very straight forward fighter. There’s no fear.”

Wilder knocked Cuban foe Luis Ortiz down in round 5, but was badly hurt in round 7 and in serious trouble for the first time in his career. Somewhat similar to Anthony Joshua’s win over Wladimir Klitschko, Wilder overcame the adversity and was able to knock Ortiz out in the 10th round. The fight peaked at 1.2 million viewers on Showtime, the highest mark on the network in three years.

Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza is interested in setting up a potential Joshua vs. Wilder showdown in the fall. It should be noted that Joshua vs. Parker is the final bout of Joshua’s contract with Showtime, but Hearn suggested that Joshua won’t jump ship to HBO, which would make a Wilder fight much more difficult to materialize.

Hearn had stated a couple of weeks back that Joshua could make his United States debut against top-10 contender Jarrell Miller (20-0-1, 18 KOs) instead of Wilder, who originally said (then later retracted) he wanted a 50-50 purse split. Now there seems to be a change in tune from Hearn, who of course is backing his guy to get the W should he face Wilder.

“Wilder has the equalizer [of power], which we saw,” Hearn said. “It’s a dangerous fight, but technically, I don’t think it’s that difficult of a fight. Anthony didn’t watch that fight and say, ‘Oh, I see weaknesses,’ everybody has already seen the weaknesses. Look at the shots Wilder took.

“The difference is you’re not talking about an old man in Anthony Joshua. You’re talking about someone that when you’re hurt, he’s going to pounce on you and you’re going to get hit by 20 shots you don’t even see coming and it will be over.

“But it’s a brilliant fight, a fight you might have to watch through your fingers. Because Joshua is completely fearless, more fearless than Wilder, who has that element in him as well.”

Alas, this is boxing, and we know how often huge fights fail to materialize in the ideal timeframe, if at all. It’s probably best to wait and see if Joshua defeats Parker in the first place.