By Juan Flores: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder says Anthony Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn are hiding from him, and don’t want to take a fight with him because of the risk factor he brings to the ring.
(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME)
Wilder, 32, says he ends fighter’s careers in boxing, and he firmly believes Joshua and Hearn don’t want to deal with what he brings to the table. Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs) says Joshua and Hearn have a “money thing” going on with them making a ton of money each time he fights in the UK.
Wilder seems to believe that he’s a threat to Joshua’s ability to make big money from his fights. If Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) loses to Wilder, then it could hurt AJ’s ability to make big cash for his fights.
AJ, let’s see who’s the best,” said Wilder to Fighthub. “I dare you all to test me. At the end of the day, who’s the best? I’m the best. I declare war. Are you up for the test? As soon as they accept the fight, I’m going to show them. They’re hiding,” said Wilder about Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn.
It’s a matter of debate whether Joshua wants the fight with Wilder or not. Joshua says he wants the fight, but unfortunately he hasn’t shown the ability to control what his promoter Eddie Hearn says about Wilder needing to test himself against Dillian Whyte first.
You can argue that Joshua’s decision not to accept a fight with Wilder straightaway in early 2018 is a sign that he doesn’t fancy the job. If Joshua did believe he could beat Wilder, he’d take the fight without him needing to fight Dillian Whyte first.
”They put on distractions. They’re making excuses, because I’m the risk factor,” said Wilder. ”I’m a danger to anyone’s career. Guys I fight, I end their careers. I’m a risky person to fight, and that’s why Hearn and Joshua are avoiding me. They got a little thing going on. It’s a money thing. They are making all these excuses that have nothing to do with the sport of boxing,” said Wilder.
Would a knockout loss to Wilder stop the Joshua money machine in the UK? That’s something we won’t find out until it happens. You speculate for sure that a bad knockout loss for Joshua could hurt his popularity. But it didn’t hurt Lennox Lewis’ popularity in the UK when he was knocked out by Hasim Rahman. Lewis’ loyal boxing fans in the UK still backed him regardless.
“England is a small country. It’s the size of Texas,” said Wilder. “Of course, they’re going to fill out arenas. The area is not far compared to America. America is three times the size of them. We got a lot of things going on over here. Boxing is a second nature sport for them. That’s nothing. That’s why it looks great, but the reality is no one cares. The only thing people care about is the best fighting the best, and that’s what I’ve had to do for years. You see when my name is mentioned to him, he doesn’t even want to speak it. He asks the people they want they want. They tell him each and every time, but he still refuses to listen,” said Wilder.
Wilder says he’s rooting for Tyson Fury to get his boxing license back, and lose weight so he can return to the ring. That’s a fight that Wilder wants soon if Fury does resume his career long enough to fight Wilder.
“First he got to get in shape,” said Wilder about Tyson Fury. “No, the first thing he’s got to do is get his license first. Once he gets his license and gets in shape, then we’ll believe anything Tyson says. Man, I would love to have him come back. I love the kid. I love everything about him,” said Wilder.
Wilder will be defending his WBC heavyweight title this Saturday night on November 4 against former champion Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The fight will be shown on Showtime Boxing in the States.
