Anthony Joshua got back into the win column after a convincing victory against Jermaine Franklin a few weeks ago at the O2 arena. After the fight when asked about his future inside the ring, Joshua with some help from the fans called out the ‘Gypsy King’ Unfortunately, the Tyson fury but didn’t get any serious response from his fellow Brit.
Anthony Joshua on Deontay Wilder talks: “In December potentially there is a big fight that should be cracking with me and Wilder. It has been a long time coming. There are a lot of moving shapes at the minute, so one step at a time. But it has been a long time coming, for sure.”
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) April 20, 2023
As of now it seems like Joshua has shifted his focus from Fury to his arch rival Deontay Wilder. A mega heavyweight showdown between the former champions looks very possible. Wilder recently gave an update on the progress of the ongoing negotiations between the two fighters and even provided an estimated date for the fight saying,
“In December potentially there is a big fight that should be cracking with me and Wilder. It has been a long time coming. There are a lot of moving shapes at the minute, so one step at a time. But it has been a long time coming, for sure.”
Joshua’s long time trainer Malik Scott agreed to the flying rumors of a fight between the ‘Bronze Bomber’ and Joshua. Demeaning Joshua’s abilities inside the ring, Scott said,
“Anthony Joshua is not as defensive minded as Oleksandr Usyk, he doesn’t have the same feet, nor the same reflexes. He’s not as tricky, or as small or light. Usyk can last longer, that’s why I gave him under six rounds. I just see three rounds with ‘AJ’ and Deontay. I don’t even see ‘AJ’ having good moments with Deontay, I see Usyk having good moments, because he’s tricky.”
Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder match-up?
In his most recent fight, Joshua defeated Jermaine Franklin in London on points on April 1. With that outcome he somewhat overcame Oleksandr Usyk’s two consecutive decision victories against him. Usyk had robbed “AJ” of the unified heavyweight championships in 2021 and had defended them in the rematch.
As a superb counter-punch to Tyson Fury’s two consecutive TKOs, the ‘Bronze Bomber’ was last inside the ring in October where he knocked out Robert Helenius in Round 1.
In 2020, Wilder’s first defeat against Fury cost the 37-year-old the WBC heavyweight title, which he then went on to win in their trilogy fight in 2021, three years after their contentious first meeting ended in a draw.
Many may consider Joshua a bit more technically poised than Wilder, but when it comes to one hit ‘bang’ there are not many better than Wilder in the game. The fight will probably generate a lot of eyeballs and the winner may even be in a situation to fight the biggest name in heavyweight boxing in ‘Tyson Fury’.
