Sports

Stephen Espinoza optimistic Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder will fight this year

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Very little negotiating going on between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, says Espinoza — Anthony Joshua is in talks to fight Deontay Wilder (Picture: Getty)

Stephen Espinoza is confident Anthony Joshua will take on Deontay Wilder this year, even though he suspects there may not be a lot of negotiating going on between the heavyweight champions.

Joshua and Wilder have been locked in talks over a unification showdown for several months, but there had been very little agreement between the two camps until recently.

Wilder suddenly announced he had accepted Joshuas demands and was ready to sign a contract to fight the Brit in the UK.

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But since that exciting development, there has been no more significant updates despite confirmation Wilder had received the contract.

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Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports, gave his view on the state of talks.

Theres a lot of positioning, Espinoza told TMZ.

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I think anytime you see guys talking to the press about a negotiation, generally that means theres very little actual negotiating going on. But the ball is rolling.

Things are moving. Discussions are happening. I think that once we get past a certain hump it will happen very quickly. So Im still optimistic well get it this year.

Wilder seems prepared to come to Joshuas backyard for what could be a historic unification fight.

Joshua is the IBF, WBA (Super) and WBO champion and Wilder the WBC king, and the fighters would place all their belts on the line should they step into the ring together.

No heavyweight champion has ever held all four major titles and a clash between Joshua and Wilder would be the first of its kind in the division.

MORE: Time running out to finalise Deontay Wilder vs Anthony Joshua, warns Eddie Hearn