Will we see Anthony Joshua box again? Will Deontay Wilder fight again?

Have we perhaps seen the last of two former heavyweight champions who were both big punchers and both huge, huge attractions over the last decade, namely Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder? Both men – who could have, should have, met in a monstrous and entertaining battle of undefeated big men in 2018 or 2019, before AJ fell to Andy Ruiz and before Wilder was devastatingly beaten by Tyson Fury in their second fight – are coming off nasty defeats by stoppage.

Wilder was most recently beaten by Zhilei Zhang, in a fight that saw the once-deadly 'Bronze Bomber' look a shadow of his former self. Joshua's career is, of course, in pretty bad shape right now, having suffered a nasty knockout at the hands of Daniel Dubois on Saturday. Wilder has been listening to calls for retirement for some time, while Joshua is hearing them at full volume right now.

But both men could fight on. If we believe AJ and Eddie Hearn, it even seems like Joshua will fight on and maybe try to face Dubois again under the rematch clause. As for Wilder, he himself has all but disappeared, so his trainer Malik Scott has to speak on his behalf. And Scott recently gave a couple of interviews, one before the Dubois-Joshua fight on Saturday and one after, and Scott says Wilder will fight again.

Not only that, but Scott told Boxing News in the UK that the Wilder-Joshua fight can still happen. Better late than never. But wouldn't it be better if this once-delicious fight, now way past its sell-by date, didn't happen? Both former champions are damaged goods and there's no denying that no matter how you look at it. Crucially, neither Joshua nor Wilder seem to have much punch resistance at this point.

Would we watch the fight if the two actually fought, say in the first quarter of next year? Yes, some of us would, and the fight would make money. But what kind of fight would it be, between two “losers” who both have suspect chins and are getting on in years (especially Wilder, who doesn't have long to wait until his 40th birthday)? It would be a case of “first to land, wins,” and the fight, if it did happen, could be over in a flash.

Both Wilder and Joshua have a lot of money, both men have had good, exciting ring careers and both are currently healthy. It's hard for any fighter to say goodbye, to walk away, and for some fighters it's even harder to stop after a bad loss. So neither Joshua nor Wilder will go quietly when they do go. You can imagine the conversations, even the arguments, between Wilder and his people, people who care about him, and Joshua and his people, people who care about him, behind the scenes as the retirement issue is voted on and voted against.

In the end, maybe common sense will prevail, or maybe it won't. But who has a harder time coming back and actually winning when it comes to Joshua and Wilder? Wilder seemed to have nothing left in the fight against Zhang, while Joshua fought for a while against Dubois but ultimately got knocked out just as badly. It was indeed sad to see Wilder go down the way he did in his last fight, and it was sad (and shocking) to see Joshua go down in his last fight.

Last fight? It probably won't be for either of them. It's really crazy that anyone is even talking about a Joshua vs. Wilder fight in 2025, and that's after both former champions have been through what they've been through. It would be anything but car crash “entertainment” if Wilder and Joshua actually fought each other after all these years.

Who out there wants to see it?