Despite being linked to an undercard fight against Jai Opetaia, Deontay Wilder is convinced that Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua will not be going ahead.

This is in spite of the fact that both heavyweights attended the launch press conference in September, while also being entitled to multi-million pound rewards come fight night.

Having dealt with their respective teams in the past, though, Wilder firmly believes that Joshua, specifically, will not proceed with their showdown on December 11.

Fury, meanwhile, he seems far less concerned about, perhaps because they completed an iconic trilogy that delivered no shortage of drama.

Their first encounter – arguably the most memorable – resulted in a controversial draw after ‘The Gypsy King’, quite remarkably, survived a heavy 12th-round knockdown in 2018.

Then, around 14 months later, Fury scored an emphatic seventh-round finish before encountering far more difficulty in 2023, when he claimed a hard-fought 11th-round knockout over the American.

Yet despite having lost to the 38-year-old on two occasions, Wilder has told IBA Boxing that he is backing Joshua if their scheduled clash does, in fact, take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium next month.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen. I see that they’ve got the promotion, and stuff, but even on Joshua’s side, [I find it] real fishy because I’ve dealt with them for a long time, and I know how they move.

“I’d be surprised if it happens … but if it does happen, I have Joshua winning on points [or by] a late-round knockout. Eleventh-round knockout.”

While many others are also backing ‘AJ’ to cause the upset, it seems the majority are favouring Fury based on their last two respective outings.