Wilder: I want to show I am better than Joshua but Hearn does not want the fight
Deontay Wilder has hit out at Eddie Hearn’s suggestions that he is pricing himself out of a lucrative unification fight with Anthony Joshua.
The next year is set to be a mouth-watering one for boxing’s heavyweight division with WBA, IBO and IBF champion Joshua targeting fights with Wilder and Joseph Parker – the WBC and WBO holders – to unify the belts.
As things stand, a bout between Joshua and Parker appears nearer to being announced, with the Briton’s promoter Hearn claiming recently that a fight was close to being agreed
Hearn also suggested other opponents are expecting too much, saying: “AJ is that Willy Wonka fight – the golden ticket, the one everybody wants. A lot of people are talking ‘I want this, I want that’ but if you really want it be realistic and come get it.”
But American Wilder says the reason that a fight with Joshua has not happened is because Hearn does not want it to.
“That’s just something Eddie Hearn has to say. Because he really does not want this fight. But he done said too much. So the next thing to do, strategy-wise, is to put it [on] the purses,” Wilder told Boxing News.
“We’re both putting our lives on the line. We’re risking everything for people’s entertainment. Give the people what they want, and let’s make this fight happen.
“He’s a fighter, I’m a fighter, and that’s all that matters. Let’s see who’s the best. If they don’t want to go by that, if they don’t want to fight, then so be it.
“But at the end of the day, I’m still going be talking. I’m still going say I’m the best until I’m proven wrong.”
Wilder is known for his brash, big-talking style and was typically confident in his prediction that a fight with Joshua would not last long.
He said: “I think I’m the better fighter. Period. I don’t think he’s going to survive in that ring with me. And I tell people, don’t be surprised if I knock him out in the first round.
“If I’m talking a lot of rubbish, as they say, then hey, let’s find out.”
