There wouldn't be a better scenario for boxing than the winner of Saturday night's rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury advancing to face unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua with the undisputed crown on the line.
But when — or whether that happens at all — remains complicated to say the least.
Wilder's promoter, Matchroom Boxing USA president Eddie Hearn, recently stressed the importance of the Wilder-Fury 2 winner facing Joshua, but also rattled off the problems of reaching financial agreements with Fury, the lineal titleholder who fights for Top Rank/ESPN, and Wilder, the WBC champion who fights on Showtime/Fox. Joshua fights on DAZN.
“The winner has to fight Anthony Joshua, there's no doubt about it,” Hearn recently told talkSport. "Fury is talking a brilliant game for this fight and he's an excellent self-promoter. The fact is, we have made offers to Fury and Wilder of 60 percent to 40 percent way before they were as relevant as they are now and they both turned it down."
He added: “We have been actively trying to make this fight (with Wilder and/or Fury). We've been around the houses, it's been talked about for ages. Sixty-forty [is what we offered] to both and they wanted 50-50. Maybe we will have to make that offer next, but there's no point talking about a deal until that fight is over. But when that fight is over, we have got to get it made.”
That's easier said than done, of course. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Joshua has two mandatory challengers lined up, including Kubrat Pulev. A report surfaced earlier this month with Hearn telling iFL TV that a Joshua-Pulev fight is "very close" to being made and that the champ wants to do it on his home soil in London.
Joshua's other mandatory challenger is Oleksandr Usyk, who also fights on DAZN.
While Joshua dealing with those mandatory bouts could further delay hopes of cementing a fight with Wilder or Fury, the latter two boxers also appear to be down on the unified world heavyweight champ.
Last week, Wilder called Joshua a "coward" when speaking with DAZN News, adding that "AJ" doesn't have to heart to confront him in the ring.
"I'm not worried about that coward," Wilder said, referring to the British fighter during an international media conference call. "The coward can barely buy his titles back, let alone step in the ring with the king. He's been out of the picture. Ain't nobody talking about him no more, so there ain't no need to be bringing him up."
Fury also slammed Joshua for not following up on an offer to spar with him in preparation for the Wilder rematch.
"(Joshua) got on Sky Sports and said that he'd come over for sparring. I agreed straightaway," Fury told DAZN News. "As soon as I seen it, I sent a video to Instagram saying I'd love to have him in camp, and there was no reply ever. The door was always wide open for him to come over, and he actually made himself look like a bit of an idiot because he said something and he didn't do it. And that was it. He never, ever once got on the phone to me and said 'Can I come over or whatever?'
"He (later) said he regretted saying what he did on video because he almost knew I was going to say yes straightaway," Fury added, "and it was too late by then."
Despite Joshua regaining his unified heavyweight crown by defeating Andy Ruiz Jr. in their own rematch this past December, Fury relegated the heavyweight scene to a two-headed monster led by he and Wilder.
"There was a three-headed monster in the heavyweight division and then someone came and chopped off the third head," Fury told DAZN, referring to Joshua's initial upset seventh-round TKO loss to Ruiz last June. "And now there's only a two-headed monster because to get knocked out by a little fat guy in Andy Ruiz and then to go in the rematch and do a performance like that, that's not the best heavyweight in the world's victory. That's like someone who's scraping by in a victory."
Of course, this feeling of resentment and flat out not seeing eye-to-eye could foreseeably change if the right contract is tendered and agreed upon. So, on the question of "Will the winner of Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury 2 face Anthony Joshua?" — we'll just have to continue to wait and see, with when being the critical component.