WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has blasted potential future opponent Anthony Joshua’s worldwide profile in his latest outburst.
As ‘The Bronze Bomber’ continues his preparations to defend the green and gold strap against Luis Ortiz on March 3, Wilder found time to remind Joshua of his place on boxing’s world stage.
“He (Anthony Joshua) may have his country behind him, and that’s it,” Wilder told ESPN.
“Does he want to be remembered as a country-wide champion? Because he’s not worldwide.
“Over here in America, they don’t even know his name. They know him as a big guy from England. That’s a fact.”
Deontay Wilder needs AJ
On a potential undisputed five-belt meeting between the pair in the coming months, Wilder added:
“I need him, and he needs me at the end of the day unless he doesn’t want to unify. Unless he wants to stay over his side of the pond and let people gravitate to him and be a fake sign of what he is.
“But he will never be a global icon. You will never be a worldwide figure without me. All roads lead to Deontay Wilder,” said the American.
Wilder, 32, has grown frustrated in his attempts to add more belts to his haul as Joshua collected two for his win over Wladimir Klitschko last April – adding to the IBF strap he claimed against Charles Martin in 2016.
Speaking to WBN on more than one occasion in the past, Wilder has outlined his single-mindedness to unify and have one sole champion in the division but has since been forced to be patient as Joshua took over from previously unified king and fellow countryman Tyson Fury.
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