Deontay Wilder in secret surgery before announcing boxing return as ‘enormous’ Anthony Joshua fight at Wembley targeted

DEONTAY WILDER had secret shoulder surgery before announcing his boxing return – with the hopes of reviving a fight with Anthony Joshua.

Wilder was twice lined up to face AJ by Saudi boxing supremo Turki Alsheikh – but the American was beaten before both occasions.

The former WBC champion was beaten on points by Joseph Parker in December 2023 and then knocked out by Zhilei Zhang last June.

But what Wilder did not know was he had a severely busted right shoulder – which he went under the knife to fix four months ago.

His manager Shelly Finkel told SunSport: “It may have been there with the Parker fight, but it was before the Zhang fight.

“Not making excuses for the result, but it's just the reality he had it.

“And when the doctor pressed down on his wrist and said extend your arm and push down, he said it's amazing you could hold your arm up and fight at all.

“He's been now working out and his flexibility is back and he's punching harder than ever.”

Wilder, 39, now returns on June 27 against Tyrrell Herndon, 37, who has a 24-5 record with three wins on the bounce.

The Bronze Bomber had a period of radio silence after his loss in Riyadh to Zhang, 41, but retirement was never even a whisper.

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Finkel revealed: “No, he never wanted to call it a day because he never wanted his career to end the way that was.”

Wilder plans to also fight around September time before teeing himself up for a blockbuster around Christmas and New Year.

And his camp refuse to give up on the overdue clash with AJ.

Finkel said: “It would be a big, big fight still. Maybe not quite as big as it was, you know, five years ago, but it's still enormous.

“It's like in a way, Mayweather and Pacquiao wasn't the same when they fought, but it was pretty damn big.”

Ex-UFC champ Francis Ngannou – who lost to Tyson Fury and Joshua – was also a name in discussions to face Wilder.

But Finkel said: “It's just timing wasn't right on any of them and that could still be a major fight in the lead up to Joshua.

“Or Deontay fights again this year after June and goes right into Joshua for the end of the year or next year.

“I believe that's a Wembley card, so we'll see.”