According to WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs), there is an evident lack of confidence that resonates from IBF, IBO, WBA world champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs).
Wilder has been very vocal about his desire to get Joshua in the ring - as soon as possible.
But most of the talking from the other side has not come from Joshua, but from his promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom.
Wilder was in action last Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where he blasted out Bermane Stiverne in the first round of their mandatory rematch.
Joshua fought late last month, when he stopped Carlos Takam in the tenth round before a crowd of 78,000 in Cardiff, Wales.
Wilder explains that Joshua never gives off the impression that he wants to stage their unification in the near future.
“Every time Joshua do speak, we got Joshua and his lack of self-confidence. He don’t even know that he’s the best! He won’t even say he’s the best! And when it comes to me, he’s not trying to make this fight happen. I’m trying to make it happen ASAP," Wilder told The42.
“He says he needs more time, maybe 2018, maybe ’19, maybe ’20, so that he can put himself in a better position to beat me. Only, you can’t find no position where you’re going to beat someone who’s more than a match for you. You can only measure with your heart how you cope in war, and use your mind and skills that you have already built, and test yourself – just like you did against Klitschko."
Does Wilder believe Joshua is scared of taking the fight?
“‘Scared’ is too strong; we’ve seen guys get in the ring many times, so they can’t be scared. But I think Joshua is very fearful of fighting me. Being fearful is a different term to being scared. I think he fears me. I don’t think Joshua really wants to fight me, because he know that I am who I say I am. He knows that I am the part. He knows that I mean exactly what I say," Wilder said.
"Americans always come across as cocky, sometimes a little bit arrogant. They talk a lot of stuff. But this American right here, they know that I am who I say I am. And with that being said, Joshua don’t want to say any of these things – that’s why Eddie Hearn is always talking for him."