Boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua stated several things about Deontay Wilder, that will no doubt cause a lot of reaction from various sides.
Even though Joshua refused to meet Wilder in the ring, the British boxer gladly accepted to comment on the previous fight between the American and Tyson Fury, and to speak in general about the Bronze Bomber.
Among other, he stated that Wilder relied too much upon his ferocious right hand, adding that it is pretty much the only weapon of the American boxer.
“I always believe that when you go to war, you can’t have one weapon in your arsenal, which was his right hand,” said AJ.
https://twitter.com/Boxing_Today/status/1250455605753655296
Many were wondering on social networks why Joshua never accepted all those calls Wilder sent his way, and why they never met if he thought that the American had just one weapon. Still, a few assume that this might be a part of his tactics to infuriate the former champ and to gain some sort of a mental edge over him for a possible future fight.
The Brit would continue to speak about Wilder with kind words, but with a certain dose of provocativeness.
“I just felt like, Deontay Wilder is a formidable ex-champion and has a chance to come back, but I just knew that when he gets to the top level, it will be difficult, because it’s one thing getting there and it’s another thing staying there.”
Joshua continued by praising the new WBC champion Tyson Fury, saying that he did an excellent job of restraining Wilder and that the Gypsy King tactically outclassed his rival. That brought him a convincing victory in the end, along with a belt. He also shot a few more cheeky comments in Wilder’s direction but without considering a possible fight between him and either of two guys mentioned earlier.
The 31-year old is preparing for his match against Kubrat Pulev, the Bulgarian heavyweight who is the IBF mandatory challenger. The event was planned to take place on June 20, but was canceled on April 3 due to the COVID-19 virus. Nevertheless, the champ didn’t stop practicing and is closely monitoring the entire situation. If something changes in the near future, the event could be back on track in no time.
Even though he comes in this one as the absolute favorite, Joshua is now aware that it might be a trap. Pulev is an experienced and solid fighter, and after the defeat against Andy Ruiz Jr., there are no easy opponents for the champion.
For the first time in his career, AJ felt what is like to lose, and to be beaten badly. Although he did avenge his loss, and took back all the belts, doubts about his quality are still present, and that is something which boosts the morale of his challengers.
Many pundits claim that he can’t fight outside England, others are saying that he intentionally avoids top names such as Fury or Wilder, while some believe that he is just a project whose previous rivals were carefully picked.
All this probably has some impact on the British boxer, which is why he needs to be extra careful against Pulev.
And about his comments on Wilder’s abilities and his match against Fury, we definitely won’t wait for too long before hearing from Bronze Bomber. We might even see some sort of an offer for a fight, which would be awesome.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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