Although the fight now seems somewhat unlikely, talk of a cross Atlantic barnstormer between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder has dominated boxing headlines for the majority of 2023.
And even though he may not to see the fruits of his labour, Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott has clearly spent time studying ‘AJ’ and devising a plan which, in his words, ends the fight in “three or four rounds.”
In a recent interview with Boxing Social, Scott explained the aspects of Joshua’s game that he believes ‘The Bronze Bomber’ would be able to capitalise on, should the fight ever happen.
“I believe Joshua over commits a lot. We can say he doesn’t over commit at the minute, because Derrick James has done a very good job of getting him to stay behind his knee. Either way, he’s a heavyweight who wants to punch at Deontay.”
“If you want to punch at Deontay, then we will make you reach and make you pay. And Deontay making you pay is similar putting people in body bags, he knocks people out cold.”
“It’s a three or four round fight to me – not just with Anthony Joshua, but with any other heavyweight in the world. They’ve mentioned a couple of other names who I won’t mention, but they aren’t going to stand a chance against Deontay.”
Despite fans receiving assurances that Joshua vs Wilder was as good as done throughout 2023, a change in boxing politics in Saudi Arabia appears to have left the two teams back to square one again.
It remains unclear whether or not there is still scope for a deal to be agreed with other power brokers in the region, or if there is a willingness to stage the fight somewhere else.