By Scott Gilfoid: Perhaps smarting at the talk of his fighter Anthony Joshua having been replaced as the #1 heavyweight in the division by Deontay Wilder, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn said that AJ is going to knockout Wilder as well as Tyson Fury when he eventually faces both of them in the future.
“Wilder-Fury wasn’t a great fight,” Hearn said to IFL in sounding more than a little green with envy.
For the general boxing world, Wilder vs. Fury was an exciting contest between two dramatically different syles. But for some reason, Hearn didn’t like what he saw in that fight.
Last Saturday’s fight between Wilder and Fury has created a huge amount of interest in the boxing world in a way that put Joshua in a lower level than he’s ever been before.
“He’s going to smash them all. Believe me when I say that. He’s going to absolutely destroy Deontay Wilder and I believe he also knocks out Tyson Fury. You will get these fights,” Hearn said to IFLTV.
Joshua would be at risk of getting knocked out with each shot Wilder throws at him. The way that Wilder smacked Fury in the 12th round, it would be hard picturing Joshua getting up from that knockdown if he was on the receiving end of the Bronze Bomber’s right hand.
Hearn is going to have a devil of the time keeping Joshua at the top of the heavyweight division if he’s not going to match him against Wilder and Fury. Hearn’s recent match-making for Joshua has clearly hurt him in putting him in with Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker and an over-the-hill Wladimir Klitchko. Hearn’s next fight for Joshua is expected to be Dillian Whyte, who he already knocked out three years ago in 2015. After that, it’s likely Hearn will match Joshua against 315 lb Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller. After that, we could see Joshua fight Kubrat Pulev. In the meantime, Wilder and Fury will be fighting each other again, and taking over the division as far as popularity goes. The reason Wilder has taken over the #1 spot at heavyweight is because he’s taken back to back fights against top fighters in Fury and Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz. Those are guys that Joshua hasn’t fought for some reason. Ortiz has been pushing for a fight against Joshua for ages with no luck, and the same goes for Wilder. When you don’t fight the best, you get replaced by the fighters that are willing to face the best. That means Deontay.
Joshua’s punch resistance, which hasn’t looked good in his last four fights, would cause him big problems against the powerful 6’7″ Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs), who has out of this world punching power. Fury’s boxing skills are just amazing. Joshua would be lucky to lay a glove on Fury. That’s a fight that could go badly for Joshua, very badly. Fury’s movement would keep Joshua from landing his shots all night long. Judges love that kind of thing. Wilder’s furious punching power would put Joshua at risk of suffering a one-punch knockout. Joshua is much more hittable than Fury, which would make him vulnerable.
Joshua won’t get a chance to fight Fury or Wilder in the first half of 2019, as they’re expected to face each other in a rematch. Joshua will likely fight Dillian Whyte on April 13.
