By Tim Parsons-
WBA and IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has sent out a threat to “freeze out” Deontay Wilder unless the WBC title holder stops “hooting and hollering” about a future bout.
28 year old Joshua, who faces WBO champion Joseph Parker in Cardiff on 31 March told BBC Sport that “Wilder has to be realistic and stop living the fantasy,” he told BBC Sport.
“If he was serious about the fight, we’d do serious negotiation. If not, stop hooting and hollering because we’ll just freeze him out.” Undefeated Joshua is preparing to add Parker’s WBO heavyweight title belt to his own two belts when the pair clash at the end of the month. There is no doubt Wilder is serious about facing Joshua- the American
Joshua’s threat to freeze Wilder out is unrealistic and shows Wilder’s goading is probably getting to the Londoner
holds the WBC belt, which is the most prestigious in world boxing. However, Wilder and his team expect Joshua to approach them for the fight, and are unhappy with what they consider a lack of effort by Joshua and his team to push for the fight.
Joshua’s threat to freeze Wilder out is further unrealistic because Joshua can never be regarded to be the best in his division until he has faced and beaten Wilder is currently the division’s best since he has beaten more of the division’s elite, and holds the highest belt in the division. The fight between the pair will definitely take place provided Joshua beats Parker on the 31st and both camps are realistic about making the fight happen. If Joshua gets past Parker, the pressure for him to face Wilder will be higher. Wilder is very fast and has a big punch, but has shown signs of being reckless in the ring. That reckless tendency with his speed and power makes him a very risky opposition for Joshua who at world class level operates with a bit of Lennox Lewis’s safety first principle.
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Joshua has has had his plate full with fight propositions throughout his bright career and has expressed no rush to face Deontey Wilder. In fact, the Brit probably expects the American to do the chasing whilst Joshua and his team continue to go for big money fights and gather experience at the same time. Wilder has twice the experience of Joshua and has knocked out all but one of his opponents in 40 fights. He has on many occasions made his interest in facing Joshua known but expects the formal challenge for the fight to be made by the less experienced and accomplished Londoner. A clash with Wilder in 2018 will be very lucrative , but extremely risky for both fighters. The looser would loose his world championship belt and also their reputation. Joshua is expected to come in lighter for his fight against Parker. In his last fight against Carlos Takam, he came in at 18 st 2lbs and did well to stop his opponents after a controversial 10th round stoppage. He did not appear as fast as Wilder was in his last two fights, but was technically savvy and very powerful.
“Around this time in my last camp, I was around the same weight I am right now,” he told BBC Sport.
“I don’t know how I shot up in weight in fight week. Maybe I relaxed, maybe I was so exhausted that I lay on the bed eating. It went on so easily. I spent three months training everyday and then for a week did little. “I’m learning. Fight week is as important as camp. I won’t be coming in that heavy, I really doubt it.” Joshua will want to send out a statement to Wilder by convincingly beating Parker in his most testing fight to date.
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