Deontay Wilder's trainer Malik Scott has suggested the heavyweight's fight with Anthony Joshua is almost confirmed.
Joshua recently returned to the ring, beating Jermaine Franklin by a comfortable points decision to regain momentum after his back-to-back defeats against Oleksandr Usyk. Shortly after his win, talks were opened with American heavyweight Wilder over a potential mega-fight, with Saudi Arabia making a lucrative offer as part of a proposed four-fighter tournament in December.
AJ's promoter Eddie Hearn has offered positive updates on proceedings insisting that both teams were open to the showdown and negotiations were progressing nicely. But in perhaps the most optimistic update yet, Wilder's trainer Scott believes the fight will now be a formality with just contracts left to sign.
He told Betway: "Without going into too much detail about the business aspect of it, everything's been said, talked about, negotiated, but nothing's been signed. But signing is almost upon us. But the negotiations definitely are happening. The moves are being made. The business aspect is definitely being taken care of.
"And most of all Deontay Wilder is being taken care of and is going to get paid very well for his services, and that's the most important part to me. I can confirm that the aim is to make both fights in one night, but the only fight that I know for sure if there's a strong possibility of it happening and is being negotiated is Deontay and AJ.
"My prediction is a third or fourth round knockout, Deontay wins by knockout. I don’t want to come down too hard on AJ or anything like that but he isn't in the same class as Deontay. He’s going out there with a systemised game plan now, he's going out with a system of discipline and humility, and I believe if he sticks with that system there is not a man that can beat him."
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Joshua looked set to meet Wilder in the past with the undisputed titles at stake several years ago when the pair held the belts, but talks crashed with the Briton even rejecting a $50million offer. Now the former two-time champion will be looking to secure victory which could land him his ultimate goal of fighting Tyson Fury if he is able to become the leading contender with the WBC.
A loss for either fighter could spell a catastrophic blow to their career, with Wilder also having lost on two occasions to current WBC king Fury. Joshua looked set to meet Dillian Whyte in an all-British rematch this summer, but that bout could now be in jeopardy given it will be a risk ahead of the mega-fight which is close to reality.
