Boxing: Deontay Wilder says Joseph Parker v Anthony Joshua heavyweight title will go the distance

Boxing rival Deontay Wilder expects a world title fight between Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua to go the distance.

Wilder is the WBC heavyweight champion and looks ready to take on the winner of the Parker-Joshua fight, potentially set to be announced this week.

Details such as the venue and date are yet to be confirmed but a fight at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on March 31 appears most likely for the New Zealand, holder of the WBO, and the Brit, who has the WBA and the IBF belts.

The Parker and Joshua camps have agreed on the money split that will give Parker about a third of the profit for the fight – which was believed to be worth approximately NZ$12 million.

Wilder has a 39-0 record and is set to fight Louis Ortiz in March.

He told Yahoo Sports that he expects a close bout between Parker and Joshua.

"I definitely think that's a 12 round fight. I like Parker. I like Joshua as well too. The thing about Parker is that he moves well too. We've seen he can take some great punches. We know for a fact that Joshua's last opponent Takam, that Joseph Parker beat him so we know he can take a punch," Wilder said.

However Wilder added that Parker (24-0) has yet to really be tested.

"…but we haven't seen Joseph fight against a guy that's thrown, that throws a nice punch. We haven't seen Joseph Parker take a nice punch on the chin so we really don't know that about him."

Despite that Wilder, who is expected to fight the winner of Parker-Joshua later in the year, said the fight will go long with Joshua desperate to make a statement.

"I think it's going to be a hell of a fight while it lasts. I think it's going to be a long drawn out fight. Both will have to feel each other with different movement. Parker's going to have to stay out of the way of Joshua. I know Joshua is going to try and make a statement, he's going to try and redeem himself from the last fight and try and get him out of there. It's a wonderful fight."

"Everyone wants to see unification bouts so I can't wait for that."