Anthony Joshua Says He’ll KO Deontay Wilder in Six!
In boxing, one the greatest advantages one can have is a solid mental edge on your opponent. As a result, some fighters will go to great lengths to get in their adversary’s head. At the moment though, it’s unclear whether or not unified heavyweight champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua (23-1, 21 KO’s) is trying to intimidate WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-0-1, 42 KO’s) or pump himself up.
Either way, in a recent interview with Sky Sports, Joshua just substantially raised the tough talk ante with Wilder. He accomplished this by saying that not only would be beat the WBC champ, he would do so by KO in less than seven rounds. Sure the tough talk sounds good, and makes for a sterling headline, but is it believable?
“He wouldn’t be there to do that in the seventh round. I would go in to knock him out. It’s heavyweight against heavyweight, champion against champion. This is a serious fight, so I ain’t going to go in there to try and outbox him for 12 rounds because of his punching power as well.
“I’ve got to go in there and take him out. Don’t let him get too comfortable in the ring with me.”
ALL OVER THE PLACE
Over the last few years, especially in the last several weeks, Joshua’s stance on Wilder has changed more than a drunk in an earthquake. In one breath he wants Wilder next, and then in the next he is offering to help Tyson Fury beat him. In a number of interviews, he vows not to discuss the destructive Alabaman at all. Then, for the next several weeks, AJ does little else but talk about Wilder.
Now, Joshua is adamant that he will snuff the real life heavyweight One Punch Man by the half-way mark! Although, this is the same man who in a 2018 interview with The Guardian openly admitted that one of his greatest professional fears was being flattened by one punch. And that was before he was floored four times and defeated by Andy Ruiz Jr.
“Nah, not scary, but I know it’s there. There are certain punches. Some are like concussive, some are stinging and some are like punches where they knock you out with one punch and you’re out for the count. Wilder possesses that kind of power. It’s about eliminating that power and just studying how to deal with it really.”
SHAM PROMISE OR SINCERE PROPHECY?
Yet now, AJ wants the public to believe he will march right into the wheelhouse of Wilder’s power to score a knockout? This is a strange statement from AJ; a guy who clearly fought an almost exclusively long range battle with Ruiz in their rematch.
During the critical do-over, Joshua gave every impression that he didn’t want any parts of any in-fighting. Whenever the two got within arm’s reach, AJ was quick to hold. The consistently-used tactic left many in the boxing public thinking that Joshua was neither comfortable fighting in the phone booth nor the sturdiness of his whiskers.
And there is no one on Earth, the Moon or Mars that believes that Ruiz can crack like the Bomber. This is why his insisting that he would run Wilder over comes off as dubious at best.
However, it would make for a great, if not short, fight if Joshua was true to his word!
UNFINISHED BUSINESS TO HANDLE
Unfortunately, at the moment, this is all merely speculation and fuel for the hype machine. Before we can be treated to a Wilder v Joshua showdown, both men have business to take care of.
First, Wilder must get past his own highly anticipated rematch with Tyson Fury. Meanwhile, Joshua must tangle with either Oleksandr Usyk or Kubrat Pulev. Both have mandatory shots at AJ, but the pecking order has yet to be established.
Granted that both buys come through unscathed, and with their titles, the long awaited US vs UK mega-fight would be eagerly embraced by the boxing public. Then we would see firsthand who puts their best foot forward when trying to claim the knockout!
“Even though there are two at the minute, I’ll let the people decide who they think is the real heavyweight champion right now.”
By: Bakari Simpson
