AMERICAN heavyweights Deontay Wilder and Jared Anderson could be matched against one another on August 3 if Turki Alalshikh gets his way.
The chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority has been responsible for reviving the marquee weight class and found a way to ensure the world’s leading promoters allow their fighters to appear on Riyadh Season cards.
In recent months we have seen Wilder vs. Joseph Parker and the latter against Zhilei Zhang, both of which the New Zealander won pushing him back into world title contention.
On May 18 boxing will crown its first undisputed heavyweight champion when Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury finally meet. Two weeks later Filip Hrgovic risks his IBF mandatory slot against Daniel Dubois while Wilder and Zhang meet in a hugely significant fight at the latter stage of their careers.
Should Wilder, the former WBC heavyweight champion, avoid a second consecutive loss and defeat Zhang then his next date could bring him back to America against the up-and-coming Anderson.
Earlier this morning Alalshikh posted a photograph of himself and Anderson on Twitter/X and wrote, “The talented Jared Anderson is with us now on August 3rd Riyadh Season card at LA against the “Bronze Bomber” Deontay Wilder – if he’s ready by then to fight after 1st of June fight against Zhilei Zhang.”
Anderson, undefeated in 17 contests, is tipped by many as a future heavyweight champion but facing Wilder would be an enormous step-up for the 24-year-old. Earlier this month Anderson beat Ryad Merhy on points in a fight to forget and last year racked up wins against Andrii Rudenko, Charles Martin, and George Arias, respectively.
The August 3 promotion at the BMO Stadium is headlined by pound-for-pound number one Terence Crawford challenging Israil Madrimov for the Kazakh’s WBA light-middleweight title. A loaded undercard already features a potential classic between super-welterweights Tim Tszyu and Vergil Ortiz Jr. Elsewhere Cuban talent David Morrell takes on Radivoje Kalajdzic at 175lbs, Isaac Cruz defends his WBA super-lightweight strap against Jose Valenzuela while heavyweights Andy Ruiz Jr and Jarrell Miller put their friendship to one side in a crossroads fight.
