Lennox Lewis has reignited his rivalry with Anthony Joshua by backing Deontay Wilder to beat the Brit ought to the heavyweight titans come to blows later this yr in Saudi Arabia. Eddie Hearn has confirmed that talks to stage the bout - on the identical night time as Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury - are ongoing with figures within the Middle East and there's a burning want from all events to make the mouthwatering matchup occur.

Should the dream schedule materialise, we may see an undisputed heavyweight champion for the primary time since Lewis, whose reign formally ended again in April 2000.

Lewis is a eager admirer of his former division though he doesn't see eye-to-eye together with his compatriot Joshua following a sequence of petty incidents and verbal exchanges.

When requested to select a winner from AJ vs Wilder, Lewis went with the Bronze Bomber though it should be famous, it seems he genuinely thinks the American will win.

The Lion informed ESNEWS: “Joshua against Wilder? Definitely Wilder.

“Wilder’s got that thing in him where he wants to hurt you and I’ve seen it every time he throws that right hand, he’s trying to damage you with that right hand. He throws it with intention.”

Interestingly, the stress between Joshua and Wilder escalated a number of years in the past when Lewis questioned AJ's incapacity to make a battle together with his American rival.

He had informed Boxing Scene: "He wants to go around making money.

"I believe that’s going to be a downfall for him. He has to stick with it, he can’t be within the background.

"If he wants to be champion, he has to act like a champion."

The dangerous blood seems to stem from the beginning of Joshua's skilled profession when AJ reportedly flew to Jamaica to take a seat down with Lewis and talk about the prospect of teaming up collectively sooner or later.

Yet Lewis would by no means obtain a name from Joshua regardless of the younger heavyweight declaring he could be in contact for some additional steering.

Since then the pair have continued to take public swipes at each other with Joshua notably unaccepting of Lewis' criticism after a number of of his fights.

In one occasion, Joshua informed Sky Sports: "Lennox is a clown. I don’t respect Lennox. Me and Lennox are not the same.

"My legacy is to take a seat again and benefit from the youthful technology developing, and to not be concerned.

"Just to appreciate what it takes to get there. Lennox isn’t like that. Me and Lennox are cut from a different cloth."

Joshua may but be about once more in late July or August earlier than he jumps into the ring with Wilder as he's eager to rebuild some momentum forward of a doubtlessly career-defining showdown with the Bronze Bomber.