Deontay Wilder quickly shutdown a question about Anthony Joshua during Tuesday’s conference call for his rematch with Tyson Fury. A caller made the mistake of asking WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KOs) how he’d feel about IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) entering the ring after the fight to call him out.
Joshua has been vocal about him wanting Fury to win. Wilder obviously interprets that as further signs of cowardice on Joshua’s part. While a fight between Joshua and Fury would do big business in the UK, it won’t in the United States. Joshua and Fury aren’t big names in the States.
So for Joshua to be hoping for Fury to win, he might be aware that he’ll make less money against him than Wilder. But if Joshua wants Fury because he’s afraid of wilder, then it’ makes sense for him to be rooting for him.
Hearn will try and get Wilder-Fury winner to face Joshua
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been doing a lot of talking about how he’s going to attempt to set up a fight between AJ and the Wilder-Fury 2 winner later this year. Wilder and Fury have a rematch clause in their contract, which would a fight with Joshua unlikely in 2020.
That’s not going to stop Hearn from trying though. He’s going to be persistent about it, and still try and set up a fight between Joshua and the winner of the February 22 Wilder-Fury 2 fight.
Wilder didn’t like the question, so he immediately labeled Joshua a “COWARD”, and let the caller know that the focus for the February 22 fight is on him and Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs), and NOT on Joshua.
You can’t blame Wilder for getting a little angry, because he’s been dealing with questions about Joshua for weeks now. The media doesn’t realize that they’re putting Wilder and Fury in a one down position when they’re frequently talking about Joshua. Wilder wasn’t going to let the caller disrespect him like that, so he shut down the Joshua question.
Deontay Wilder: I’m not worried about the COWARD Joshua
“I’m not worried about that coward,” said Wilder when asked if he’d like to see Joshua enter the ring after his fight with Fury to call him out. “That coward barely won his titles back, let alone stepping into the ring with the king. He’s been out of the picture, and ain’t nobody talking about him no more.
“So there ain’t no need to bring him up,” said Wilder about Joshua. “Right here, right now. On February 22, Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury. Other than that, nobody else is in existence at this point in time,” said Wilder.
Deontay had been trying to get a fight with Joshua for years now, but with no luck. Hearn is a tough negotiator, and he played it a little too hard and ended up with nothing.
The media needs to wait until AFTER Wilder and Fury fight each other before they start bringing up Joshua. It’s not fair to Wilder and Fury to have the media name drop Joshua’s name because they like him or whatever. It’s important for Wilder-Fury to have the focus on their fight, not on a future fight against Joshua.
Wilder: No MERCY for Fury
“That follows into my plans,” said Wilder. “I’m interested to see if he follows into his game plan. That’s going to be exciting to see. I’m the champion of the world, and I can’t be beat. As far as him saying what he’s going to do, and what he actually do, I think it’s going to be two different things. But that’s what makes this fight such an exciting fight.
“Not only with our words, but also with our actions,” said Wilder.”I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen. If he does that, then let God be with him on the night of the fight, because God may have mercy, but I don’t,” said Wilder.
That sounds scary what Wilder is saying about him not showing mercy to Fury on February 22. It would be a good idea for Fury to be ready for a lot of heat seeking missiles coming from Wilder in this fight because he seems very serious about wanting to put a hurting on him. It’s not that Wilder has bad blood towards Fury.
It’s more of a case of Wilder always wanting to hit his opponents as hard as he can to take away the threat that they possess. For Wilder, boxing is WAR, and he’s not going to take prisoners or show any mercy to his opponents. That goes for Fury as well. His happy go lucky attitude wins him a lot of boxing fans, but it’s not going to save him from Wilder.
Deontay wants to clear up confusion from past fight with Fury
“This fight means so much to me,” said Wilder. “At this point in time it’s just about me and Fury. All these other guys; we’ll still be here after this fight. I’ll still be here after this fight, and I’ll still be the king after this fight. Then we can go from there, but at this moment in time, it’s truly about me and Fury.
“This is our time, and this is where we solve it all,” said Wilder. “We left you guys confused about what happened. I can tell you what happened, and he can tell you what happened, but it’s two different versions. Now we have the opportunity to correct the wrongs in the people’s minds all over the world, and that’s what I plan on doing.
“Proving them clearly. Not only proving it to them, but doing it in the same fashion, but in a more dramatic way,” Wilder said. “There’s a strong possibility of that happening, especially if he brings the fight to me,” said Wilder when asked if there’s a strong chance he knocks Fury out early. “As you saw, I brought the fight to him nearly the whole fight the first time.
“If he wants to do the reverse and bring the fight to me when I’m already applying force to him, it’s going to be an interesting fight,” said Wilder on Fury. “It’s going to be a short night, but it’s going to be an interesting fight. If it’s an interesting fight and a short night, you can count me in, because I don’t get paid for overtime,” said Wilder.
It’s doubtful that Fury is going to take the fight to Wilder to try and go for a knockout like he’s talked about recently. It’ll be the same thing as last time with Wilder being the one that is coming forward the entire fight looking to mix it up.