Anthony Joshua has finally spoken.
He’s been called out numerous times by Deontay Wilder live on television and on social media through tweets and videos. Joshua has kept quiet and offered few pushbacks to Wilder’s messages.
The WBC World heavyweight champion demolished his mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne last Saturday and declared war against Joshua in his post fight speech.
“Phenomenal performance. He did what he had to do to get the job done and now he’s looking forward to the next year like myself,” said Joshua in an exclusive interview with IFL.tv
Wilder has been vocal in his social media messages and tweets about fighting Joshua. He has accused Joshua of ducking and avoiding him, not taking on tough challenges.
“I’ve been taking challenges since my 15th fight in the sense that I fought for a world title in my 16th fight. So that tells you where I’m at in terms of fighting people. Me and Dillian it was a fight where he was calling me out and we got the fight cracking. Deontay Wilder wants to call me out – no problem. I’ve already had a meeting about that,” responded Joshua.
Recently the American boxer also wondered why Joshua doesn’t respond or speak for himself publically. A calm and collective ‘AJ’ had this to say.
“The difference between me and him is I don’t just say what I say to please people. I mean what I say. I don’t do my negotiations in public. I don’t do business in public,” commented Joshua.
Joshua confirms that he’s had a meeting with his team about fighting Wilder. Earlier this week promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed he was flying to New York do promote Matchroom’s first ever show in the US but also meet with Wilder’s management on the side.
“We had a meeting and I said ‘are there any offers that came your way’ because Wilder seems to say that I’m ducking him and he’s really interested in fighting me. There hasn’t been any offers saying ‘look Anthony we got this venue on this date. We’ve got this broadcaster and that broadcaster interested in taking the fight and these are the terms and conditions of the fight’ I haven’t had anything like that.
“I’ve taken upon myself to sit down with my team to strategise what I’m going to do. I met Eddie and spoke to Eddie about what I want to do. Now Eddie has gone to America to talk about what we are going to do. That’s the process of how to make a fight,” revealed Joshua.
According to several reports, Hearn offered Wilder a fight against Dillian Whyte.
There were talks that should Wilder beat Whyte, Matchroom could have then offered Joshua on a separate contract. Here’s Joshua’s take on the situation. The WBA, IBF & IBO also confirmed he will be flying to the US and negotiate the possible terms of the fight against Wilder.
“Eddie listened to what Dillian was saying and said ‘I want to fight Deontay Wilder’. Eddie then said ‘okey, this is offer I’m gonna make Deontay Wilder to fight you’ as a promoter would do and a good manager would do. Deontay Wilder wasn’t interested. Deontay Wilder said I ain’t got nothing to offer this guy but Eddie and Dillian are strategising in this way to formulate that type of money. It’s not about Deontay Wilder, it’s about the WBC belt, that’s what Dillian wants and I understand that.
I’m not aware of myself being involved in the deal with Dillian Whyte getting a fight for the WBC belt. Dillian Whyte is one of my rivals. He’s not one of my business partners. So any business relations we have happens with fists, not in a negotiation room,” told Joshua.
The unified champion confirms fight negotiations will progress once he travels to the states.
“So when it comes to myself competing with Deontay Wilder this is a meeting that I’ve had with my team today and we found a way to make these things happen because Deontay Wilder has called me out after his fight with Stiverne which I didn’t expect. I haven’t seen no contract or offer in place. So know I’ve had to take it upon myself to make plans to travel to America to discuss negotiations so I can become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. That’s the way business is done,” stated Joshua.
Tyson Fury has been also mentioning Joshua’s name a lot lately. When asked about Fury, the heavyweight champion had mixed feelings. He definitely wants to fight Fury but isn’t really concerned about him since the former heavyweight champion is not active.
“One side of me says he isn’t relevant because he is not fighting. With all due respect, I can only speak on a fighter who is active. On the other side, I need Tyson Fury. I want him so I can compete with him. I want to challenge Tyson Fury. One side of me says that I can’t speak on someone that’s not fighting right now so when he’s back I can be able to say ‘I’ve been watching the way he’s training’ but I can’t even talk on that right now,” he said.
According to Joshua, all of Fury’s tweets and call outs are just talk on social media.
Hears the heavyweight champs!
Seems I'm still leading the pack!😎❤️🥊 pic.twitter.com/X6gS0SCm60— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) November 7, 2017
“I want him back so I can challenge Tyson Fury and we can get this show happening. At the moment it’s just talk. I’m not into the business of talking. All these guys are doing their negotiations over social media and I’m not into the business of that. When he is back, when he is ready, we’ll sit down and get the ball rolling. Until then, it’s not relevant to me,” Joshua summarised.
READ MORE:
Deontay Wilder Sends A Video Message To Anthony Joshua – “Either Fight or Shut Up”
Fury Wants Wilder To Fight Joshua First
Eddie Hearn And Wilder’s Manager To Meet In New York This Week – “This Could Get Done Immediately”