It was always a toss-up between Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker for Anthony Joshua's next fight.
While Tyson Fury is undoubtedly the biggest name and should represent the largest payday for 'AJ', win or lose, the controversial heavyweight is nowhere near fight ready as he awaits the return of his boxing licence and attempts to drop the considerable weight he's put on in his two years away from the ring.
When you look at the pair of unification options open to Joshua, Wilder definitely holds significantly more cachet than Parker right now as 'The Bronze Bomber' is fresh from a
brutal knockout of challenger Bermane Stiverne.
And, according to Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn, talks have officially begun to make 'AJ' vs. Wilder a reality in 2018.
"We have to find middle ground between reality and fantasy. If we can find the right deal, there is no reason why that fight can't happen next," Hearn told Sky Sports News. "Honestly, through experience, that's the hard part.
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"It doesn't happen overnight, this is the first meeting [on Thursday] - it may go well, it may go terribly, it may go OK. Fans need to know we are being proactive.
"We want the fight. The Wilder fight will happen in 2018 unquestionably. It's just a case of whether it's next, in the summer and, importantly, where it [takes place].
"The major issue in these negotiations is to deal with egos. You have two world champions - one is the biggest star in world boxing and one, if you walk the streets of Manhattan and ask if people know the name 'Deontay Wilder', the answer will be no.
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"Walk down the streets in the UK and ask if people know the name 'Anthony Joshua' and they will know his life story.
"We have to respect [Wilder] but we also need to do great business for Joshua. If we offered Wilder his true worth, the meeting would last two minutes.
"We have to overpay Wilder, like we do with every Joshua opponent. In fact, Joshua's last opponent probably received a similar purse as Wilder received last weekend to defend his world title."
Now we all know how protracted boxing negotiations can be but it's promising that the wheels are already in motion to get Joshua to the ring in the early months of 2018, freeing him up for another fight in the summer and a third before the end of next year.
