“I Hope He Does Come Back, Because He’s A Great Asset To The Heavyweight Division”
Like the rest of us, Anthony Joshua is wondering what on earth is going on with Deontay Wilder. Joshua, holder of the WBA/IBF/WBO belts, is gearing up for his mandatory defence against Kubrat Pulev, but the 31 year old is also thinking about former WBC champ Wilder. Speaking with Sky Sports News, AJ said that in his opinion Wilder is either “putting together a master plan” on how to come back and defeat Tyson Fury, or he is “sitting at the edge of that lake, with his head in his hands.”
Wilder has of course been unusually quiet – as in vanished from sight quiet – and the pick fans must make is down to one out of two: is Wilder working hard behind closed doors, determined to return, or is he mentally broken and finished as a fighter? We just do not know.
Joshua spoke of the “cruel world” a beaten fighter sometimes has to face; himself included:
“I don’t know, so I can’t speak on everyone’s situation, but just from my humble opinion, after a loss, things change,” AJ said. “You distance yourself. The world is cruel. You’ve got to have a thick skin. Either he’s putting together a master plan – he’s in the lab right now, with his science glasses on, studying Fury’s every move. Or he’s sitting at that lake, with his head in his hands and thinking, ‘What’s going on?’ One minute you’re on top of the world, and the next minute you’re not. That’s the name of the game we’re in.”
Joshua added how he hopes to see Wilder come back, as he is “an asset to the heavyweight division.” We fans also want to see Wilder the destructive, all-conquering puncher back in action. But has Wilder still got it? Again, your guess is as good as mine, or anybody’s.
Even now, though, a Wilder-Joshua fight would be a huge fight, a huge event. If, say, Wilder did come back and banged out a couple of decent guys, then maybe the drum would again be banged for a Joshua-Wilder showdown. Maybe. As to whether or not we will ever see that third fight between Fury and Wilder, who knows?
Wilder has to break his deafening silence sooner or later, doesn’t he?