By Edward Chaykovsky
IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is not paying attention to the challenges that are coming from Deontay Wilder, who holds the WBC heavyweight crown.
This past Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, Joshua (17-0, 17KOs) pounded out a seventh round knockout of previously undefeated Dominic Breazeale (17-1, 15KOs). Joshua captured the title in April with an easy two round demolition of champion Charles Martin. Wilder will defend his belt on July 16th against Chris Arreola in Birmingham, Alabama.
Wilder was part of the broadcast team in the United States for Showtime, and expressed his desire to face Joshua in the fall.
Wilder (36-0, 35KOs) was the last male to capture a medal for the United States. He picked up bronze in the 2008 games, while Joshua was a gold medallist at the 2012 Olympics.
“If he wants to make his mark in the United States, what better person to try and make his mark against than a Deontay Wilder? He said he wanted Fury or the winner of the Klitschko fight in the winter. Why not do it with me? I would love to take that fight. Eddie Hearn said they want it sooner than later. Let’s make this right now,” Wilder said.
Joshua warned Wilder to pay attention to his upcoming fight instead of focusing on matters on lie ahead. Two weeks ago, Andrzej Fonfara was looking forward to a potential rematch with Adonis Stevenson - and saw himself get knocked out in the first round by huge underdog Joe Smith Jr. Arreola is just as big of an underdog and like Smith he also carries a very big punch, and like Fonfara there are some questions regarding Wilder's ability to take a huge punch.
"Let him focus on his fight with Chris Arreola, that's important to him. I will definitely be out there making my US debut soon, whether it's against Wilder or not, I just want to get out there, make my name known because it's a golden time for boxing again. Let's start building, hit the big stage," Joshua told Sky Sports News.
"Everyone is asking me when I'm going to America, I'm not too sure they'd be thrilled if I told them we were going to Alabama, not that there's anything wrong with Alabama! But it's not Las Vegas and if we can get something like that, then I would jump at the option.
"But I realised during the Breazeale fight that everyone's opinions are irrelevant, telling me who to fight. As the fight went on, I realised I could go out there and try and knock out Breazeale, but I've got to do what's right by me. When I take that out of the fight and into my career path, I want to do it by my own accord, and no one else's influence."
"There are so many wolves in the pack right now who want to come for what we've built, but no problem. I've got a good team. We will sit down and discuss our options for the short term - hopefully fight in November or even sooner so we can fit in another two fights - and then a longer-term strategy."
