Haye Urges Joshua To Fight Wilder NOW, As Soon as Possible

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former two division world champion David Haye is urging IBF champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17KOs) to have a unification with WBC champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36KOs) as soon as possible.

Wilder retained the world title on Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama with a TKO victory over veteran Chris Arreola. He suffered injuries to his right hand and bicep and needs to have surgeries for each injury.

After the win over Arreola, Wilder called out Joshua and WBA Super, IBO and WBO champion Tyson Fury.

The injuries will keep Wilder out of action until 2017. Joshua on the other hand will return on a date in November. He knocked out Charles Martin in April to capture the belt and last month retained it for the first time with a TKO of unbeaten Dominic Breazeale.

Haye told Sky Sports: "Right now, I think it'd be a very safe fight for Joshua to opt to fight Wilder as soon as possible. Now he knows Wilder's got one arm, there's no better time. If Joshua gets the opportunity to fight a Wilder, now knowing he's got a damaged hand is the perfect time.

"The one threat that Wilder has is that right hand. It really is his key punch. His left hook is good, his jab is nice but his right hand is his biggest weapon. I had it in my career. I broke my hand against Giacobbe Fragomeni and Nikolay Valuev and it takes four or five months before you can punch with any real confidence.

"Fighting the guys Wilder is talking about, he's going to need 100 percent confidence in throwing it because when you're fighting the elite fighters, you may only get one chance to throw your knockout punch. People's defences are very good. Wilder really needs to focus on getting fully healthy and making sure his hand is as good as it can be."