By Sean McDaniel: Deontay Wilder says he’s been chasing a fight against British heavyweight Anthony Joshua for the last 2 years, and he says he’s going to smoke the 28-year-old out to force him to face him after he knocks out challenger Luis Ortiz this Saturday night on March 3 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has other ideas though. He’s already got Joshua’s next opponent after his March 31st unification fight planned out against Jarrell Miller in the summer. Joshua will be facing WBO belt holder Joseph Parker on the 31st of March in Cardiff, Wales.
Hearn says Wilder is on Fantasy Island with his demand of a 50-50 purse split for the Joshua fight. Hearn will likely continue to use Wilder’s purse request as the excuse not to make the Joshua-Wilder fight until he backs down from that and accepts a smaller cut.
“It’s been crazy trying to make this fight,” Wilder said to ESPN’s First Take about the Joshua fight. “They’ve been avoiding me for years. I’ve been waiting for 2 years now. I’m very happy and proud of him. He’s doing what he’s doing in his country, and his country is behind him. But there comes a period where the best must fight the best. They say he’s the best. He doesn’t say he’s the best. They speak for him, because he don’t have the confidence, but I speak for myself. I know I’m the best and they don’t want to fight me,” Wilder said.
It might take a poor performance for Wilder over Ortiz for Joshua and his promoter Hearn to agree to fight him. You hate to think that Joshua is gun-shy in facing Wilder, but it could be that way. He’s not been demanding the fight with Wilder like he was against 41-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, who had been inactive for 2 years at the time Joshua fought him. Hearn doesn’t seem to be eager to put the fight with Wilder together. He’s talking about making fights with Miller, Tyson Fury and Alexander Povetkin. Unless something changes to cause Hearn to look Wilder’s way, it’s likely Joshua-Wilder fight won’t take place until 2019 or later.
”I don’t even think his promoter has confidence in his own fighter,” Wilder said. ”What he’s doing is milking the cow, milking the cow until he’s got enough. When I do what I do Luis Ortiz out, we’re going to smoke him out of there. If I can’t do it myself verbally with my mouth, we’re going to use the people and smoke him out of there. This fight is very important. It’s very important what I do on March the 3rd,” Wilder said.
The best way for Wilder to smoke Joshua out is by beating Ortiz, and then calling out Hearn’s fighter Dillian Whyte if he wins his March 24th fight against former WBA heavyweight champion Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne. If Hearn is still interested in matching Whyte against Wilder, then that fight needs to happen. Wilder can use Whyte as a punching bag to create interest in the UK for a Joshua-Wilder fight. Hearn might not be too eager to let Wilder fight Whyte though if he destroys Ortiz. Hearn is talking of wanting to match Joshua against Whyte in a rematch. Joshua wants that fight as well. He’s already knocked Whyte out in 2015 in a 7th round stoppage, but he wants to fight him again.