Come Saturday, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, two of the most well-known names in boxing, will slug it out. But it won’t be against each other. Instead, they would be facing different opponents in Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena. While ‘AJ’ squares up against Otto Wallin from Sweden, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ will go against New Zealander Joseph Parker.

However, not long ago, there were talks of a fight between the two former heavyweight champions. It was supposed to take place on the same day, December 23, as the co-main event of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk‘s fight for the undisputed championship. However, the equation soon changed. The two reigning champions took their fight to February next year. The talks for the Joshua and Wilder fight missed the mark, as it did on previous occasions. But that hasn’t prevented the duo from taking swipes at each other.

Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua: Exchanging jabs in the social media arena 

Deontay Wilder was responding to a recent comment that Anthony Joshua reportedly made. He told iFL TV that it doesn’t bother him whether his fight with Parker is treated as a co-main or a main event. However, if the situation were such that he and Joshua had a fight scheduled, then he would have treated the British former champion as the co-main event. The Bronze Bomber said, “I don’t want to be bothered about co-main event or the main event. Now, if I had a if I do have an opinion and if I look at it, and if me and Joshua is going to fight I would look at him being the co-main event and not the main event because he’s more he’s he’s more worried about fighting me than I am him.”

Then he cited his confusion over a conflicting statement made by Joshua. Deontay Wilder shared how ‘AJ’ reportedly mentioned chasing belts instead of facing him. If that’s true, Wilder continued, then it basically means that Joshua wants to avoid him. However, the reality, as the American heavyweight stated, is that fans and followers barely give a hoot about belts and championships.

He said, “At the end of the day, people really don’t care about who’s the belts who got the Who’s the champion. They want to see great fights, and that fight is the biggest fight in the world, and for him to say that, I already tell me where his mind is.”

Earlier, Wilder further explained his keenness for a fight with Anthony Joshua. Unfortunately, the latter’s camp has failed to reciprocate the feelings. He is hardly paying any attention to how the bout between ‘AJ’ and Wallin pans out. Whereas Team Joshua’s entire focus appears to be on the treatment Wilder would provide to Parker.

Between Championship, Legacy, and Public Demand

As per the available reports, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker stand in the third and fourth positions in the IBF rankings, respectively. Hence, a win over Otto Wallin could elevate the English boxer to the second position. From there, he could launch a new campaign as a mandatory challenger. A win would secure a world champion title for the third time. But, multiple sources do believe that the big fight between Joshua and Wilder will eventually come up in 2024. More so, a winner between the two might as well get a chance to fight the winner of the Fury-Usyk battle. Though the latter two might opt for a rematch at a later stage.

Read More: “Wish You Nothing but the Best”: Delighted Deontay Wilder Shows Anthony Joshua Respect at Press Conference

What’s your take on Wilder’s statement? Do you also believe that Joshua could be avoiding him at any cost? Please share your views with us in the comments below.

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