Is Anthony Joshua Ducking Deontay Wilder?

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By Alex “O” Chamberlain

Anthony Joshua has told Dillian Whyte he is third choice as his first and second choice opponent for his April 13 fight is Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury. In a split moment Joshua became so interested in fighting Wilder even in a state of desperation. The reverse was the case a few months ago when Wilder was calling Joshua out for a unification clash. Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn deliberately offered Wilder a flat fee of $15million in a fight that is likely to rake in over a $100million. It simply means Wilder is getting 15% of the cherry and that would not be fair enough.

Now what must have changed? After watching Wilder and Fury take away the spotlight from him, he is trying to get back into the mix of things by calling for a fight with Wilder. Unfortunately for Joshua, it seems Wilder now has his mind on a rematch with Fury to put an end to the controversy that followed their first bout. If Wilder comes out victorious in his rematch with Fury, it will put him in a position of strength during negotiation for a unification bout with Joshua. Joshua knows that whoever wins the rematch is strengthened in negotiation hence his attempt to scupper the fight in order to continue to dictate the pace.

A school of thought is also of the belief that Joshua does not want to fight either Wilder or Fury but Whyte. He is only name dropping them so it doesn’t seem he is ducking and to put himself back in the spotlight. It is also believed that he knows Wilder and Fury would not abandon their rematch to face him first just yet.

So fighting either Wilder or Fury on the 13th of April in Wembley, a venue booked by Joshua seems very much unlikely at this point. Boos rang out at the 02 arena when Joshua stepped into the ring to confront Whyte following Whyte’s victory over Chisora. This indicates that Joshua has lost his place in the heart of majority of the boxing fans even in his country.

In boxing, the best should fight the best to know who really the best is. This is the simple reason Joshua went off the radar following the Wilder Vs Fury fight. If Joshua wants to rebound to being the darling of the heavyweight division as he once was after victories over Charles Martin and Wladimir Klitschko, he should be making his American debut, fighting Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller who has always welcomed a fight with Joshua. Alexander Povetkin has also indicated interest in fighting Whyte.

It seems very unlikely that Wilder and Fury will yield to the distraction of April 13, 2019.

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