Deontay Wilder not overly concerned with Anthony Joshua bout
For those familiar with Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO’s), there are a few statements that he is synonymous with. One of which is his desire to kill a man during a boxing match. The other is voicing his ambition to become the singular face and champion in heavyweight boxing. For years, he held the WBC heavyweight title while spreading these messages. That was before his title was violently heisted by Tyson Fury in a match where he was brutalized, bloodied, literally licked and knocked down several times.
For a significant amount of his reign, before that unceremonious separation from his belt, UK darling Anthony “AJ” Joshua (24-2, 22 KO’s) held the remaining three titles, preventing his undisputed status. Therefore this was a fight hotly pursued by Wilder and called for by the fans. Despite this push, the bout was never realized. In fact, Joshua would famously turn down an $80 million dollar offer to face the Bomber without looking into it.
WORDS ARE CHEAP
Naturally, doing things like that caused many fans to think that AJ was scared of him. Or, at least lose faith in Joshua’s similarly stated desire to be the undisputed champion of the division. Ironically, at the current moment, neither one of them have titles. Unsurprisingly though, Wilder does not even place much stock in Joshua’s word as he revealed to Brian Custer on the Last Stand Podcast.
“So you know, that’s the thing about boxing; styles make fights and that’s just the end of it. A person can look up on another person and say this and that or whatever, whatever but can you defend it against him when you get in front of him? And the only way that you can find out is if you get in that ring with him.
And if you don’t get in that ring with him, you just talk. That’s it and that’s all it will ever be. The talk and then talk become dust and then dust vanish and then you no longer see a fight that could have been a great fight and everyone could have made a lot of fucking money! First his point was, you know, it’s not about the man it’s about the belts. I guess it’s about the man and not the belts since he’s on the opposite side of the grass!”
TWO IN THE PENALTY BOX
Given his somewhat tepid opinion on who AJ is as a fighter, it should come as no shock that Wilder wasn’t surprised that he lost his recent bout Oleksandr Usyk.
“I wasn’t surprised at all for the simple fact that when you go look at [Andy] Ruiz and what he did and how he did it,…I consider Usyk a lot better than Ruiz. He is definitely taller, but the thing about it, he is a southpaw that’s doing it. And we know for sure Joshua, in my knowledge, has only fought one southpaw. Because southpaws can be tricky! Usyk is a southpaw and he has good movement as a southpaw.”
Technically speaking, these boxers are only two fights away from being the hottest topics in the division again. All Wilder has to do is get through Fury. If he did, it would stand as his first official win in the trilogy. Likewise, all Joshua has to do is regroup and figure out a way to outperform Usyk in their rematch. Deontay Wilder fights Fury on October 9 and it appears that Anthony Joshua will enact his mandatory rematch clause.
It goes without saying that these are tall orders. Very tall; yet they are still wholly obtainable goals nonetheless. If they win, then they hold all the marbles, only if they win though. So, first up to bat, Wilder gets Fury back in the ring where he’s wanted him since February 22, 2020. Will he reclaim his stolen thunder or be dealt another demoralizing defeat? Let’s figure that out and then go from there.
By: Bakari Simpson
