Deontay Wilder held stunning talks to face fan-favourite Briton on huge card

Johnny Fisher has suggested he received a shock offer to face Deontay Wilder.

Fisher has recently made the move to switch from promoter Eddie Hearn to join Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing after receiving a more lucrative contract.

Mark Robinson/Matchroom

He will headline his first show at the Copper Box in London on September 26 with an announcement imminent over a potential opponent.

But in a stunning revelation, the Romford Bull revealed he nearly landed an even bigger fight, which would have been the biggest of his career.

Fisher claimed he accepted an offer to face Wilder in Istanbul, Turkey, a blockbuster card that Turki Alalshikh was planning to be headlined by Oleksandr Usyk.

He explained: “There was talks, a couple of weeks before my contract was up.

Eddie [Hearn] FaceTimed me with Turki Alalshikh and he said, ‘Wilder, Istanbul, end of August?’ So I was like, ‘yeah, no problem.

“They made me a few offers with different things, they were trying to get fights to happen and, for whatever reason, they weren’t materialising.

“At one point it was going to be Wilder — of course I was up for that. That didn’t happen because of the politics of boxing.

“Sometimes Turki can say one thing and think that it’s going to happen, but through no one’s fault, other things happen in boxing that mean a fight, even when they are announced on social media, collapses.”

It would have been a step up for Fisher against a former world champion, although the power-puncher is well beyond his best years.

The showdown would have been Wilder’s first since facing and beating Derek Chisora in London earlier this year.

Wilder’s next fight – talks with Oleksandr Usyk

However, it appears that the direction of travel for Wilder is now moving away from Fisher.

He is instead in talks with Zuffa Boxing, Fisher’s promotion, instead to face heavyweight great Usyk.

The Ukrainian recently vacated his unified world titles to chase a final bow in the squared circle.

And he personally made a plea to Wilder, as the American still carries huge box office power despite being beyond his best years.

The pair previously were in negotiations before his victory over Chisora

And despite being a huge underdog, a massive upset victory would be a perfect curtain-closing moment for the former champion’s career.

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