Deontay Wilder has slammed Anthony Joshua’s latest win as the two heavyweight belt-holders continue the bad blood that has characterised their long-distance rivalry.
Joshua took a cautious approach to regain his IBF, WBA, WBO, and IBO belts from Andy Ruiz Jr, winning the rematch in Saudi Arabia on Sunday (NZT) by unanimous points over 12 rounds.
That certainly didn’t impress WBC champion and knockout artist Deontay Wilder.
“Joshua did what he had to do to get the win. He ran around the ring and was on his bike all day,” Wilder told The Athletic as the heavyweight division got a familiar feel at the top.
Wilder suggested Joshua’s close friendship with former champion Wladimir Klitschko was evident in his latest performance which was more scientific than scintillating.
“Basically, he had Klitschko in the camp and he was a lot like Klitschko: that jab-grab-hold method. That’s all he did.
“When you land the right hand, you’ve tackled the distance. When you land that punch, you know you’re in exact position for the second time around
“But he was so hesitant … Joshua’s mentality was to survive. The Klitschko method.”
Wilder said that was in distinct contract to his own exciting style.
“I think of myself as a champion … you want to come out there and whoop him. Im not coming in, after losing to this guy, to just dance and grab and jab and hold,” Wilder, who has won 41 of his 43 fights by knockout, told The Athletic.
“I’m going to show the world and convince them I am the very best and that no-one is close to me, especially with what’s going on in the division right now. It’s a time of proving who is the best.
“Joshua had many times he could’ve gone for the finish after he landed the right hand.”
Wilder is set to fight Tyson Fury again in February, a rematch of their draw last December. Joshua is eyeing mandatory defences of the IBF and WBO belts but, inevitably, talk will return to a unification fight.
But there is still plenty of bad blood between the two camps after prolonged negotiations failed to deliver a Joshua v Wilder fight long ago.
Joshua’s boss Eddie Hearn reflected the current mood as he dismissed Wilder’s criticism of Joshua.
“Anthony Joshua just put on a public exhibition, and schooled a heavyweight champion,” Hearn told IFL TV in response to Wilder’s views.
“We spent too much energy and time talking about Wilder who, in the grand scheme of things, has just boxed in America at Las Vegas and sold 7,000 tickets, and did 100,000 buys on pay-per-view. No-one gives a monkey’s about Wilder. Sorry, it’s true.”
Meanwhile, Joshua, basking in his comeback win, has spoken of medical issues that he believed hindered his performance against Ruiz in New York in June when he was put on the canvas four times.
“I had some issue with my health which I was going through for a long time,” Joshua told the BBC.
“I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I felt so tired and drained and thought it must be down to training.
“In the changing room before the fight I got a bucket of ice and was putting my head in it thinking ‘why do I feel so tired?’
“The responsibilities of being world champion are difficult. All that stuff, feeling so tired, dealing with obligations.”
Mystery had surrounded Joshua’s lack luster performance but the giant Brit said doctors sorted his issue.
“Now I have energy, I haven’t missed a session,” he told the BBC.
“After my check-ups it showed what the problem was and this is what you have to get sorted.
“Even in this camp I had an operation done but as I’d started training in June I had no issues.”
Not surprisingly Wilder also had a few thoughts on the physical condition of Ruiz in this rematch with Joshua that saw the Mexican enter the ring severely overweight.
“Ruiz said he was doing great, not letting this moment get to him, but in the end you hear him saying he ate too much and should’ve trained harder … like, what the f….?” Wilder told The Athletic.
“What do you mean you ate too much and could’ve trained harder? I take this s*** seriously. I don’t know what their mentality is, but I didn’t become champion of the world just to say, ‘Put me in the record books. At least I can say I was a champion’.”
