Deontay Wilder's loss takes steam out of long-awaited fight with Anthony Joshua

On the flip side, Anthony Joshua handled Otto Wallin in the other co-main event, stopping the Swede in the fifth round. The British star has been on a roll as of late with his third straight win after losing his heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021 and their subsequent rematch nearly a year later.

The event as a whole was an apparent prelude to several potential fights in 2024, most notably setting up possible contenders to Usyk or Tyson Fury as those two men will come together for the first unification bout in the four-belt era. However, it also appeared to build on a long-awaited match between Wilder and Joshua.

Wilder and Joshua reportedly agreed to a two-fight deal prior to Saturday's event, with the first fight taking place in early March. They had circled each other for years when both held their shares of the heavyweight crown — Wilder as WBC champion and Joshua holding the WBO, WBA and IBF belts — and their showmanship helped tease what could have been the biggest unification bout since Lennox Lewis bested Evander Holyfield in late 1999. (Lewis won the WBA, WBO and IBF titles.) 

However, each of their camps accused the other of negotiating in bad faith when it came to splitting the purse as well as where the fight would be located. Joshua was and remains a huge draw in his native United Kingdom, and having three of the four belts supposedly gave me more sway in the talks.

In the post-fight conference, Joshua still expressed his willingness to get in the ring with Wilder, seemingly to speak from experience of losing when the stakes are at their highest:

Both Wilder and Joshua have three losses to their names, but both of them can say that the two fighters currently at the top of the mountain had to go through them — Wilder losing two of three to Fury and Joshua dropping fights to Usyk. 

Yet, a bout between them will still attract some eyeballs. With that said, there's another heavyweight contender who could command a big payday for either man, should there be interest in taking a chance.