Deontay Wilder: “Joshua fears me”

By Andy Brooks - 11/11/2017 - Comments

Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) sees fear in British heavyweight Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs), but he wants him to know that it’s going to be alright.

Wilder says it won’t be the end of Joshua’s career after he loses to him. Joshua is still young enough to pick up the broken pieces of his career and come and still be successful.

Right now, Wilder is still trying to get the fight made with Joshua for 2018. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants to get the best possible deal for his fighter, and that’s going to make it difficult to put their fight together. Wilder wants an even 50-50 split of the revenue for the fight, as feels he deserves it due to him being the WBC heavyweight champion.

Joshua holds the IBF and WBA heavyweight titles, but Wilder feels that both of them are exactly the same with what they bring to the fight. However, Wilder does believe he’s more highly feared in boxing and respected due to his exciting knockouts. Wilder isn’t asking for more than 50 percent of the revenue for the fight despite his belief that he’s a better fighter than the unbeaten 6’5” Joshua.

“I am trying to make the fight happen ASAP,” said Wilder to TMZ.com in talking about the Joshua fight. “I think he [Joshua] fears me. I wouldn’t say so much as scared. I think he fears me,” said Wilder.

If the fight doesn’t happen between Wilder and Joshua next year, it’ll be on the account of money.
Hearn has said previously that he won’t agree to a 50-50 deal for Wilder against Joshua. Hearn sees that as a non-starter. So if Wilder insists on taking half of the pot for the Joshua fight, then he won’t be facing him next year. The fight could still happen later on down the road if Wilder is more agreeable to taking a smaller cut of the money. Short of that, it’s unlikely Hearn will make the Joshua-Wilder fight happen.

In a direct message to Joshua, Wilder said this:

“Listen, mate, let’s get this fight on. We can have the biggest fight in boxing history. I don’t need you. You don’t need me. To make this fight an extravagant fight in world history, we need each other. It’s going to be okay. You may be fearful, but it’s going to be okay. We’ll all come out as heroes. We’re both going to make history. You’re young, man. You’ll still have your career. You can bring it back up. Even the greatest lost. Let’s make this fight happen,” said Wilder.

Wilder is exaggerating here by saying the Joshua fight will be the “biggest fight in boxing history.” It probably won’t even do as well as the Gennady Golovkin vs. Saul Canelo Alvarez fight from last September. Joshua-Wilder is more of a UK fight rather than one that will attract interest in the U.S. The hardcore boxing fans will watch it in the U.S, but that’s about it. The interest in the Joshua vs. Wilder fight will come strictly from the UK.

“10 times bigger,” said Wilder when asked if his fight with Joshua can be bigger than the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor event fight from last August. “This will be overshadowing that, because we’re heavyweights,” said Wilder