DEONTAY WILDER CANCELLED a media call with the UK press this evening, instead releasing a prepared statement within which he thanked fellow heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua for proposing a fight between the pair following his points victory over Joseph Parker on Saturday night.
Speaking in the Millennium Stadium ring after adding the WBO belt to his collection, unified champion Joshua claimed he was “100%” ready and willing to face WBC king Wilder in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight crown.
Joshua insisted that it must be Wilder, and not him, who eventually traverses the Atlantic for arguably the most eagerly anticipated scrap in boxing. “I’ll knock him spark out,” he said of Wilder to the wild cheers of thousands in the Welsh capital.
Alabama native Wilder, 40-0(39KOs) stirred an unrelated controversy over the weekend when he once more claimed he ‘wanted a body on his record’ – an idea he has peddled in the past and subsequently addressed in an interview with The42.
With the American under fire, his scheduled media call was cancelled this afternoon, but not before he gleefully accepted Joshua’s invitation for a rumble on UK soil.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Anthony Joshua on his win last Saturday night,” Wilder said in an email to the media. “Anthony, I am so glad we finally heard from you on Saturday and that you want to fight me as your next opponent and you want the fight to happen in the UK.
I accept that challenge and I am ready to come to the UK for my next fight. There is nothing on Team Wilder’s side to prevent me from fighting you next.
“You also said on Saturday that your team is ready to meet with Shelly Finkel and Al Haymon from my side to get this deal done. They are also ready to meet with your team immediately. Let us know when – the sooner the better.
“Thanks Anthony, I can’t wait to meet you in the ring.”
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, claimed in the UK Daily Star today that Wilder would fight former Joshua victim Dominic Breazeale next, telling Chris McKenna: “There’s no doubt about that because the IBF ordered a final eliminator between Pulev and Breazeale and Breazeale pulled out because he’s going to fight Wilder next.
“Breazeale had a final eliminator to fight Pulev, a massive opportunity to become mandatory to Joshua and if he had fought Pulev, he would probably have won.
“So why pull out if he had nothing else on? The answer is because he’s fighting Deontay Wilder.
“If Wilder then fights in June or July against Breazeale, then our fight with Wilder would not take place until November or December.”
Shelly Finkel, Wilder’s manager, has denied these claims per Gareth A. Davies on TalkSPORT. In an interview with Davies published yesterday, Finkel expressed a willingness to travel to UK to hammer out terms with Joshua and Hearn, revealing tentative talks for two fights between the heavyweight champs – one in the UK and one across the pond – took place to no avail last autumn.
Many, including former World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, now fancy the unconventional Wilder to topple Joshua should they square off in 2018.
Fury beats both of them
@pg38: fury wouldn’t beat eggs in his current shape
@pg38: yep. Agree 100%. He needs to get a couple fights under his belt first, taller fighter then the two, reach, punch and a chin of steel. He’s has no one stance which would probably be key.
Has wilder ever done leg day? I’ve see twigs with more mass
@Kian: Genetics.
@Kian: good one but beauty of boxing is that muscle mass is a hindrance not a help. Wilder.one of the hardest hitters in a generation despite being able to.make cruiserweight limit and having legs like twigs, as you say. Fcuk leg day.
@EBurton: muscle mass is a hindrance. Right…Mike Tyson really struggled with all that muscle as did Lennox Lewis. This is the HEAVYWEIGHT division!!!
@The Irish Pain: It’s better to be naturally big than to gain muscle. Think of George Foreman compared to Holyfield. Joshua also lost a stone of muscle for the Parker fight. It’s best to be naturally strong and loose than to lift weights and be tight.
@Shy Tall Knight: He did not lose a stone of muscle. That’s not how muscles work
Apples and pears doesn’t want his cash cow getting in with wilder. That’s why he had been pushing for Whyte to fight wilder
@Mel Roberts: he let him get in with Klitchsko relatively very early in his career.
@The Irish Pain: and big Vlad retired soon after, hadn’t fought in 18 months and was coming off the back of a painful loss to fury. Vlad wasnt the fighter we know him to be.
@Mel Roberts: agreed but it was still a risky fight. Shows they’re willing to take risks. Apart from Wilder I don’t know who else he could have fought by now.
@The Irish Pain: wilder is the only other one but all I hear is hearn saying Wilder doesn’t want it while he is trying to send Dillian Whyte to fight him. As much as I like fast car Eddie, he is scared of his cash cow getting beat. He knows if that happens Wembley shows and Cardiff shows are maybe that harder to come by for Brand AJ. In all fairness I’d like to see Whyte get another crack at AJ
@The Irish Pain: He ducked Ortiz…Hearn was also his promoter last year and he knew it was a big danger to throw Joshua in with him so early.
Wilder will happily take the chance to go in and swing wildly at Joshua! He’s got a decent chin as he’s shown against Ortiz and alot of power! He’s tall with a long reach. It would definitely be interesting. He’s probably just a little too light to take on Joshua and beat him
Fury would beat the pair of them at his peak. It’s a terrible division, Joshua isn’t all that, just beating bums. Wilder is just a brawler, nothing else to his game.
@David Linehan: so who has Fury beaten?
@The Irish Pain: no one of note but he isn’t being bigged up like Joshua, Fury is taller, longer reach and good jaw, no one stance. He’d have definitely beat Joshua at his peak, the only thing helping Joshua now is the lack of ring time for Fury.
@David Linehan: I’ve seen Fury get laid out before