Anthony Joshua says Deontay Wilder struggles with elite fighters
Unified heavyweight champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua (24-1, 22ko) was all set for a mega-showdown with WBC champion Tyson “Gypsy King” Fury (30-0-1, 21ko). Their fight would have crowned the first-ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era. Instead, he is now responding to comments made by arch-rival former WBC champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-1-1, 41ko).
The entire boxing world had the rug pulled from underneath it when a third-party arbitrator ruled the Gypsy King must honor the contractual obligation of a trilogy fight with Wilder. Immediately the boxing community, after being fully invested in Joshua vs Fury, felt deflated and betrayed.
Joshua perhaps felt this impact the most and is now looking to fight WBO mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13ko). Fans are well aware of the previous rivalry between Team Joshua and Team Wilder. The entire boxing community was waiting to see them clash back in 2016.
The Alabama power puncher would lose to Fury back in February 2020. Furthermore, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused the rematch to be pushed back until 2021, causing the clause to expire. Wilder, now set to receive a chance to become a two-time world champion, still has a desire to fight AJ. During an interview with Sky Sports, Wilder was asked if he believes he can knock out the unified champion.
“In a devastating fashion!”
Of course, Sky Sports did not want to sit on this hot potato. They fired up their laptop to get Joshua’s thoughts on what the former world champion had to say.
“Talk is cheap. It is the cheapest thing to buy on earth, is talk. I am an elite-level fighter. I am not one of those tomato cans he has knocked out, so you better watch what you say and then have a reality check. When the day comes for me and him to fight, I know what I am capable of doing and that is all that matters at the end of the day.”
The unified champion went even deeper when asked of Wilder’s status of being an elite-level fighter.
“He ain’t an elite-level fighter, in my opinion. He is good, he is good. As a heavyweight, one punch can change the course of a fight. But I have never ever seen in the heavyweight division of a fighter going to war with only one weapon in his arsenal.”
“When you get to the top level, trust me that does not last anymore, that doesn’t work. As we’ve seen now in certain fights or with elite-level fighters, he struggles.”
By: Garrisson Bland
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