Anthony Joshua has insisted that a match-up with Deontay Wilder is simply inevitable.
‘AJ’ is currently preparing for mandatory IBF challenger Kubrat Pulev, a task which bookmakers expect him to deal with comprehensively, and he’s already answering questions about who could be next up following his title defence in Cardiff at the end of this month.
Given Tyson Fury’s ongoing impasse, Luis Ortiz’s recent drug test failure and the fact that Tony Bellew and David Haye won’t fight until the end of this year; immediate opponents are looking somewhat few and far between.
Deontay Wilder will likely sneak his nose to the front of that queue if he successfully defends his WBC belt against Bermane Stiverne, who has stood in for the withdrawn Ortiz.
AJ' might have to look elsewhere https://t.co/SE9Tn6ZifZ
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) September 29, 2017
And Joshua has admitted that it is simply a matter of time before he ends up sharing the ring with ‘The Bronze Bomber’.
“All these guys talk about me all the time and it’s negative, always negative, but sooner or later I’ll be ramming my jab down their throat,” Joshua told Sky News on Sunday,
“It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when when it comes to the likes of David Haye and Deontay Wilder because there has been no era of boxing where heavyweights, middleweights, welterweights haven’t come together.
“We have to fight each other and that’s just the way it’s going to go.”
It goes without saying that Joshua has breathed fresh life into a faltering heavyweight division and his ability to sell out stadiums in the United Kingdom is proof of his undeniable superstar status on these shores.
But Wilder has insisted that the 27-year-old simply does not have anywhere near the same drawing power in the United States that he enjoys in Great Britain.
“To be global, you’ve got to make your name in America and Joshua is not as big as people think he is over here,” Wilder told Sky Sports.
“The UK is about the size of Texas. One state in my country, where people don’t know who Joshua is for real.
“If my name was brought up and Joshua came along it’s the same as if Joshua’s name came up, my name would come along.
“It will be a great fight, but he is not that popular over here. I had to burst a lot of people’s bubble but he’s not.
“If he wants to be global, he needs to come to America to fight me, but to be honest, I don’t care where it happens.”
