By Jake Donovan

Despite the allure being removed of two unbeaten heavyweights colliding for the undisputed heavyweight championship, Deontay Wilder doesn’t see any reason why a fight with Anthony Joshua still can’t happen.

“We still gonna fight, why not,” Wilder (41-0-1, 40KOs) stated matter-of-factly during a recent installment of Sirius XM At The Fights.

Of course, the response to the “why not” part of the equation would point to Joshua’s shocking 7th round stoppage loss at the hands of Andy Ruiz this past Saturday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The night was intended to celebrate the United States debut of Joshua (22-1, 21KOs), a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist from England who had since emerged as a unified titlist and the best heavyweight in the world.

That all came to a crashing halt following Ruiz’s stunner, recovering from a knockdown to score four of his own in becoming the first Mexican boxer ever to claim a piece of the heavyweight crown. He now holds all but one of the division’s relevant hardware, with Wilder still in possession of the World Boxing Council (WBC) title.

The unbeaten boxer from Alabama has reigned as a titlist since Jan. 2015, recently recording his 9th defense with a 1st round knockout of Dominic Breazeale this past May In Brooklyn, New York. Interestingly, he has yet to speak on a full unification clash with California’s Ruiz, despite the two both fighting under adviser Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner.

Additionally, all of the major titles reside in the U.S. for the first time in more than 25 years, not since Riddick Bowe handed Evander Holyfield his first defeat in their memorable first fight in 1992. The two would go on to fight three times, with Holyfield regaining the World (lineal) championship in their rematch a year later and Bowe claiming the series’ lone knockout win in their Nov. 1995 rubber match, albeit in a non-title fight.

Holyfield would go on to join the late Muhammad Ali as boxing’s lone-ever three-time heavyweight titlists, and then surpass “The Greatest” in collecting a cheap vacant belt to become a four-time titlist in 2000.

Such boxing greats as Floyd Patterson, George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis have all made their way back to the heavyweight title stage. Wilder doesn’t see any reason why his longtime elusive rival can’t follow suit.

“People look at losses and think it’s the be all end all, but it’s not,” notes Wilder, perhaps foreshadowing how he believes a sequel will play out, as Joshua has exercised a contractual rematch clause. “It’s how you become a two-time, three-time, four-time champion. In our history of boxing, many of the greats have lost, if not all. It’s boxing, you’re going to win some and you’re going to lose some.

“That’s just how it is. (A loss) shouldn’t define who you are. Sometimes you’re going to get knocked down. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing in the world, to get back up. Some people after they get knocked down they want to strategically move themselves. That’s the easy part. The hard part is getting knocked down so you can get back.”

The question remains whether or not Joshua can pick himself back up. The previously unbeaten titlist appeared to have the fight beaten out of him on Saturday, but nevertheless remains confident he can get it right the second time around.

From there, it’s hoped that Wilder and Joshua can get it on for the at least the first time after nearly two years worth of failed negotiations.

“Of course we can still fight, but first he gotta pick himself back up,” notes Wilder, who in the meantime already has announced rematch plans with Luis Ortiz and unbeaten Tyson Fury. “We gotta see if he picks himself back up, dust himself up. Does he pick himself up or does he stay down? Right now he’s down, his mentality is weak right now.

“It’s gonna be interesting to see how he takes this time and rebuilds himself and get himself back into the mix. When he do that, I’ll be here.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox