There has been lots of talk of Anthony Joshua fighting Deontay Wilder, but this week the American’s trainer Malik Scott claimed the Brit doesn’t want to fight – a comment which promoter Eddie Hearn clearly doesn’t agree with.
The Joshua and Wilder saga has been going on all summer. It was strongly rumoured to be next up for both men at the end of this year or the start of next, though Andy Ruiz Jr was also seemingly in the mix for a fight with ‘The Bronze Bomber.’
Scott recently named two potential opponents his man could face next, and neither of them were Joshua, and in one interview Joshua’s promoter Hearn has said that the fight is not going to happen until March or April at the earliest.
Speaking to FightHype, Hearn responded to Scott’s comments that Joshua would be fine if he went his whole career without facing Wilder.
“Malik Scott talks so much s**t. He also said it was my fault. We weren’t even involved in the negotiations. The situation is we were offered a deal that we accepted. It’s not my fault some now that of the alternatives are not anywhere near the number of the first offer.”
Hearn then stated he doesn’t care about Wilder and thinks the KO artist from Alabama doesn’t want to fight.
“We’re also in line to potentially fight against Filip Hrgovic for the IBF title, or we’ll see what happens with Otto Wallin. I don’t care about Deontay Wilder. He’s got his own problems, the guy ain’t fought for a year, and his last fight [a first round knockout of Robert Helenius] was 40 seconds, so I think he don’t really want to fight.”
Whoever they fight, both men will need to secure an opponent sooner rather than later if they want to stay relevant in the marquee division.