By Keith Idec

Whatever happens Saturday in London, Deontay Wilder wants Wladimir Klitschko to attack Anthony Joshua like the former champion’s legacy means something to him.

The undefeated Wilder was disappointed in the way a reluctant Klitschko allowed Tyson Fury to upset him and take his heavyweight titles nearly 17 months ago in Dusseldorf, Germany. The undefeated Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) out-boxed Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) to win a 12-round unanimous decision and the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO championships in November 2015.

The 41-year-old Klitschko can regain three of those titles if he defeats England’s Joshua (18-0, 18 KOs) on Saturday at Wembley Stadium. Joshua is a 2-1 favorite entering a fight against the best opponent of his four-year pro career.

“We’ve gotta look at that fight,” Wilder, the WBC heavyweight champion, said regarding the Klitschko-Fury fight during a conference call Monday. “Klitschko didn’t lose, really, because of not being able to compete with Tyson Fury or whatever. He lost because he didn’t throw no damn punches. You know? I want him to fight in this fight. I don’t want him to hold back or whatever, because Fury was bigger than him and all this and that. Forget all that.

“You’ve gotta go in there and fight. You’re the champ. You don’t care about nobody being bigger than you or out-weighing you or if you get touched. You don’t worry about that. You go in there and you defend your title because you the king. And you ain’t gonna let nobody take it. I don’t care what they size is. That don’t mean nothing.”

The 6-feet-6, 250-pound Joshua is 14 years younger than Klitschko, but roughly the same size. At 6-feet-9 and 247 pounds, Fury was a rare opponent who was both taller and heavier than the 6-feet-6, 245-pound Klitschko.

Wilder wants to see some nastiness out of Klitschko, too – the kind of viciousness that always served his older brother, former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, so well before he retired to pursue politics. If the 41-year-old Klitschko really wants to prove that the Fury fight was a fluke, according to Wilder he’ll have to fight aggressively and passionately in a hostile environment full of nearly 90,000 Joshua fans.

“It’s a time and place to be nice,” Wilder said. “You can’t always be nice. When you start being too nice, people start [doubting] you. They start doubting you a little bit. Sometimes you’ve gotta let ‘em know that, ‘I’m still a monster. I’m still that beast. I’m still that lion and I’ll eat you up alive when I get you in there.’ And this is what he’s gotta come to bring to the table.”

Wilder will serve as analyst for Sky Sports’ coverage of the Joshua-Klitschko fight later this week in London. Sky Sports Box Office will televise the scheduled 12-round fight on pay-per-view in the United Kingdom.

Showtime will air Joshua-Klitschko live in the United States, beginning at 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT. HBO will replay it at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.