DEONTAY WILDER's head coach has seemingly poured cold water on talk of a fight with Anthony Joshua being close to a done deal.
Negotiations over the long-overdue grudge match – which is currently targeted for January – resumed after Joshua sparked out short-notice replacement Robert Helenius last month.
AJ promoter Eddie Hearn claimed this past weekend that the fight had taken a huge step towards coming to fruition from a financial standpoint, although he admitted they're currently without a site for the dust-up.
And a frustrated Malik Scott – Wilder's coach and good friend – told ESNews: “It’s a real frustrating frustration, because to me, out of everybody.
"Deontay is the one, as far as activity, is the one that misses out.
“It’s a lot of promises, but it seems the promises are being broken a little bit. But we’ll see.”
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Wilder hasn't set foot inside the ring since his first-round obliteration of Helenius last October.
The Bronze Bomber is said to be keen on having a warm-up fight before throwing down with Joshua.
And Hearn claims Joshua will opt to make his third outing of the year should his clash with Wilder take longer to finalise than currently anticipated.
He told BBC Five Live: "He [Joshua] is just training away but he wants Wilder.
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"If it can't be made, he wants to stay active. If he fights in December, that'll be three fights in eight months which is incredible for him.
"People keep saying he should have one more fight and then fight Wilder, but we don't think so.
"If it ends up that way, so be it and nothing would surprise me.
"If he fights in December, if he fights Deontay Wilder, if he fights Tyson Fury next – nothing would surprise me.
"There's Filip Hrgovic and there's Andy Ruiz Jr, but it probably won't take place in this country.
"He's had two now on the spin at The O2 Arena, so maybe we go to Madison Square Garden, somewhere in the Middle East. It's just about activity for him."
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