Wilder not interested in no other fight but Joshua
Yesterday 3KingsBoxing.com reported that WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder had cancelled his plans of going to Cardiff this weekend for the Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker fight. He didn’t figure the trip was necessary if Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn were going to prevent him from coming in the ring after the fight to try to build up hype for a potential fight between him and Joshua.
Earlier today we reported that Eddie Hearn went on a rant, about Wilder not attending this weekend, during the final press conference for Joshua/Parker. Hearn said Wilder was a joke and he would basically be crazy to turn down an offer Hearn said he made to the American for a fight with the WBC number one ranked contender Dillian Whyte.
Wilder gave his reasoning for not attending the fight plus his response to Hearn’s remarks during an interview with Boxing Scene earlier today;
“My whole decision of not going to the fight was definitely a team decision, my decision at the end of the day,” Wilder said. “But it was a turnoff when Joshua and his people said that I wouldn’t be allowed in the ring, that he would have extra security and a restraining order and all that stuff. He’s on record saying that. It’s a turnoff to me. The point is why be there if you can’t hype up the biggest heavyweight fight in a long time? They say they want me to hype the fight up, they want me to raise the profile of the fight. What better way than free advertising? That was free advertising. Nobody had to pay for that.
“But they don’t want this fight. They don’t wanna fight me, and that proved it. For that reason, we felt like we didn’t need to go. Because [Hearn’s] whole focus, his whole, main concern, is about another fighter [Dillian Whyte]. It ain’t got nothing to do with me and Joshua. That’s his whole high right now. He’s not trying to make the Joshua fight. He’s trying to make another fight that we don’t want.”
Wilder said that him and his team simply is not interested in a fight with Whyte at this time. They’re looking for one fight and one fight only, a unification bout with Saturday’s winner. They most definitely would prefer Joshua according to Wilder.
If Parker is able to pull off the upset this Saturday then Joshua would be expected to opt for an immediate rematch. Should Joshua win we can definitely expect the hype to increase surrounding a possible matchup with Wilder.
By: Chris Henderson
