Anthony Joshua could take 'colossal' fight after Deontay Wilder bout collapses

Anthony Joshua's next opponent could be 'colossal' after seeing a potential fight with Deontay Wilder collapse.

Joshua and Wilder were both in action at the 'Day of Reckoning' event in Saudi Arabia on December 23.

It's believed Joshua and Wilder would've signed a contract to fight one another if they got past opponents Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker that evening.

'AJ' managed to stop Wallin in the fifth round, but Wilder suffered a shock loss to Parker via unanimous decision.

That means Joshua's plans for 2024 are now up in the air.

Eddie Hearn has since revealed three names are in contention to face his client - with one promising to be a huge spectacle.

The Matchroom Boxing head honcho has suggested former UFC heavyweight champion and current PFL superstar Francis Ngannou is in the running.

Ngannou fought WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury back in October and nearly pulled off the greatest upset in boxing history.

The 37-year-old looked right at home in the ring on his professional debut and was only beaten via split decision.

Getty)

He could now be in line to face Joshua and make it another huge payday. Other potential fights for Joshua are Filip Hrgovic and the winner of February's huge undisputed title fight between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

Speaking to iFL TV, Hearn explained: "Right now, we have three fights that we’re in discussions for they’re all big and that doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder.

"Before March our aim, and we’ve discussed this, is to fight the winner of Fury versus Usyk. That is all we want to do. Obviously there’s a [Filip] Hrgovic fight out there for the world heavyweight title.

"There’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there which would be absolutely colossal.

Getty)

"There’s other heavyweights as well, the [Zhilei] Zhang fight possibly as well with Queensbury. Our conversations right now are about mapping out Joshua’s next four or five fights. To map out his 2024 and potentially the rest of his career.

"A lot has to happen by March to make that possible with Hrgovic. Are Fury or Usyk going to be able to keep the belt, or do they have to let it go?

"Is Joshua going to replace [Otto] Wallin in the rankings? There’s a lot of discussion, maybe that’s a fight that when everything plays out could be one for the summer."

Topics: Anthony Joshua, Francis Ngannou, Eddie Hearn

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

@DanMarland_