Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder once appeared destined to stand across from one another in the squared circle.

Several months ago Matchroom Boxing chairman, and Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was brimming with confidence about the likelihood of the heavyweight slugfest taking place.

But a sharp turn of events has seen Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder collapse, and Hearn has now explained why.

During a recent interview with Seconds Out, the Matchroom Boxing chairman stated that the initial offer from Saudi Arabia to host the heavyweight clash had been withdrawn, leading to a fallout of the fight.

He said:

Boxing has become infamous for being unable to book fights among its biggest stars.

But with Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk’s merry-go-round of negotiations seemingly coming to an end following the announcement of their fight, hopefully, Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder can follow suit.

Eddie Hearn scoffs at the idea of Anthony Joshua vs Joe Joyce

On September 23, Joe Joyce faced off against Zhilei Zhang in an immediate rematch of their clash earlier this year.

Zhang once again walked away victorious, although this time in a far more brutal fashion. Joyce was stopped via TKO in their first fight but was knocked out cold in their second clash.

Following the bout, several members of the boxing community have called for Joe Joyce to retire. But given his English nationality, there have been talks in the past of a potential clash with Anthony Joshua, in what would be an all-British affair.

Eddie Hearn was recently asked about the possibility of ‘AJ’ versus Joyce, and the Matchroom Boxing chairman could not have made his feelings any clearer. He said: