By Keith Idec
Based on what he has heard from Deontay Wilder lately, Anthony Joshua doesn’t expect their much-discussed heavyweight title unification fight to happen any time soon.
Joshua said during a conference call that he anticipates making a mandatory defense of one of his titles later this year, assuming he defeats Andy Ruiz on June 1 at Madison Square Garden. Wilder made a mandatory defense of his WBC title by knocking out Dominic Breazeale in the first round Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“I’m not overlooking Ruiz, but I already told Eddie about the Wilder fight,” Joshua said. “It’s plain and simple. It’s not complicated. He’s got the belt I want; I’ve got the belts he wants. He’s been calling my name out for the last year or so. Why shouldn’t the fight happen?”
The 33-year-old Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the 29-year-old Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs), of Watford, England, each have turned down substantial offers from the other’s representatives over the past year. Two months ago, Wilder walked away from a four-fight, $120 million offer from DAZN, which would’ve included two fights against Joshua.
Wilder’s next fight is a rematch against Luis Ortiz, whom Wilder knocked out in the 10th round 14 months ago at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) turned down a $7 million offer last month to replace Jarrell Miller as Joshua’s opponent June 1.
And Wilder already has another rematch waiting in the wings. On Friday Wilder announced that a deal was reached for a rematch with Tyson Fury - which is being targeted for the spring of 2020. Wilder and Fury fought to a controversial twelve round split draw in December 2018.
“Whenever he’s ready, I’m definitely ready,” Joshua said of Wilder. “He should be the one saying, ‘I ain’t got no [mandatory] obligation. Anthony Joshua’s the one I want and I wanna do everything to make it happen.’ They asked immediately after the [Breazeale] fight. He wasn’t too keen. … He isn’t mentioning me anymore, like he wants to fight the other guys. Like I said, I’ve got what he wants and he can come get it when he’s ready.”
Now that Wilder is opposing Ortiz next, Joshua could be left to make a mandatory defense of his IBF title against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev (27-1, 14 KOs). The IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion is listed by Internet sports books as at least a 25-1 favorite over Ruiz (32-1, 21 KOs), of Commerce, California, in a 12-round fight DAZN will stream in the United States.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
