Deontay Wilder is apparently still all ears for a fight with Anthony Joshua, despite their bad blood.
In a recent interview, the former heavyweight from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, affirmed that his interest in a bout with London’s Joshua, also a former titlist, remains high. The two were seemingly engaged in serious negotiations in 2018 but their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. Since then both sides have accused the other of bungling those talks.
Wilder, who was considering retiring from the sport after his knockout loss to Tyson Fury in their trilogy match nearly one year ago, will return to the ring against Robert Helenius Oct. 15 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Along with Wilder’s comeback and Joshua’s recent loss to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, talk of a Wilder-Joshua fight has seemingly been re-ignited in the boxing world.
“I mean, right now we’re handling what we gotta do over here. I mean, at the end of day, like I said, I’m back, so there’s no fights that’s gonna be not negotiable to have or that it’s going to be nonexistent,” Wilder told Brian Custer on The Last Stand Podcast. “No matter how I feel or how they feel. Because I can always go back on the run in the past—like I said, like the saying is, I may not remember your name but I never forget how you made me feel."
Negotiations with Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn in 2018 had apparently left a bitter taste in Wilder’s mouth. In the Custer interview, Wilder referred to the guaranteed $50 million offer that his team, which includes manager Shelly Finkel and advisor Al Haymon, had made to Joshua. Wilder said he had even “lowered” his purse in order to further incentive Joshua to accept the fight—but to no avail.
“When we tried to make that fight happen, they ran from us,” Wilder said. “I don’t make no lies up. People can believe what they want, whatever, but I see it today, I still stand on 10 toes on everything. They know it too. I even lowered myself to $12 million flat. You understand me? Why they giving a champion who hasn’t even proven himself 33%?
"You tell me a $50 million guarantee and the main thing his promoter [says], ‘Oh he’s from Alabama. ‘Motherf-----, this dude from Alabama don’t ever have to fight a day ever again, how 'bout that? How 'bout that? How 'bout that?”
Hearn, at the time, expressed skepticism about the $50 million deal, calling it a "PR move" and saying that he needed more information about the provenance of the proposed purse. Hearn would offer Wilder the following year with a reported three-fight $100 million offer to appear on DAZN, which Wilder wound up rejecting in order to retain his free agent status and because he felt Hearn and Co. were fundamentally “dishonest."
Hearn and Wilder recently had words for each other through the press after it was revealed that Hearn had once again attempted to reach out to Wilder's team about fighting Joshua before Joshua's scheduled rematch with Usyk. Wilder viewed Hearn's proposed offer as nothing more than a way to insure Joshua's loss to Usyk.
Nevertheless, Wilder said so long as he and Joshua are still active, a fight between them only makes sense.
“But, you know, like I said, I’m still in this business,” Wilder said. “If he (Joshua) still in the business and I’m still in the business, of course some things can happen. We’ll see what happens. The future is bright. I’m willing and able for any and everyone up in the heavyweight division. You know what I mean? I wanna make that perfectly clear. I still want to whoop that ass too.”
Joshua is currently in negotiations with champion Fury for an all-British, WBC title showdown in December. It was announced Tuesday that Joshua had accepted all of Fury’s terms and was waiting on a response.
Wilder will not lack for attractive options in the meantime. In addition to Helenius, Wilder has a few other suitors who can battle him inside the ring. One includes Andy Ruiz, a managerial stablemate. Asked if a fight between Joshua or Ruiz would be easier to make, Wilder pointed to the California-born Mexican-American.
“Andy Ruiz, for sure,” Wilder admitted. “For the simple fact, like he said, we’re with the same people. When you [are] with the same people it’s always easier than when you’re dealing with somebody else, especially somebody else from a different country and stuff like that, you know.”
Still, Wilder wants to make it clear that he is still keen on fighting Joshua—the question, for Wilder, is if Joshua feels the same way.
“Now we have no choice, maybe,” Wilder said of a showdown with Joshua. “We’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll see. I’m not going to rob the fans from not making that fight happen. I definitely want that fight to happen. I just want to know if they for real.”
