Former world champion Anthony Joshua’s rants have continued following his ‘heel-turn’ interview with Sky Sports.
Singled out by the network he fights on in the UK, Joshua has unfathomably blamed Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder for failed negotiations in the past.
As World Boxing News covered in its entirety last summer, a Joshua vs. Wilder undisputed unification fell apart when the American was entirely on board. All Joshua had to do was name the date and venue. But instead, promoter Eddie Hearn turned to the WBA to mandate a clash with Alexander Povetkin.
Even then, Joshua could ask for an exception to face Wilder. As it turned out, the Briton was hell-bent on avoiding the ‘Bronze Bomber’ to face the Russian. Turning down a massive £50 million to fight Wilder on Showtime in the United States, Joshua was then given a chance to fight at home once again.
Wilder only wanted a £15 million guarantee. The big puncher was one hundred percent nailed down as an opponent if Joshua wanted the battle. WBN understands that Joshua and Hearn wanted Povetkin, the only decision that left anyone out in the cold.
In what was an unexpected twist for Joshua and Hearn, Fury then stepped up to the plate. This was despite only being back in action in a matter of months. One year on, and Joshua is blaming Fury and Wilder for ‘freezing him out’ when, in all honesty, the 29 year-old and his promoter had a solid chance in 2018.
On his platform ‘AJ: The Untold Truth,’ which doesn’t necessarily do what it says on the tin, Joshua said: “I’ve taken on the world from my 16th fight, I’ve consistently done that. Then I’m fighting Ruiz Jr?
“Tyson Fury is fighting Otto Wallin, but nobody talks about that. I fought Wallin as an amateur. (Wilder and Fury) are the cream of the crop. They shouldn’t be fighting those types of people. Look at the time frame of when I turned professional to when others did. And they don’t want to fight me. It shouldn’t be about anything else apart from the best fighting the best.
“The guys who I’m supposed to fight are turning down the most lucrative offers in boxing. (Hearn) told me that when I win the belts: ‘you will be in a position of power. Nobody will dictate to you.'”
That final phrase says a lot. It basically means Joshua controls his own destiny. Should he really have wanted Wilder, AJ could have secured the clash last year.
Instead, Joshua took on past-it Povetkin and won easily. It was then negated on a spring fight at Wembley, which Wilder would have accepted. It’s a sad state of affairs when UK fans have contrary information. WBN also had inside knowledge of what went down.
December’s entertaining contest between Wilder and Fury is the strongest indication of where the WBC title holder was at in terms of his ambitions. For his part, Joshua was forced out of his comfort zone and lost to a man he had never planned to trade blows with in the first place.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay. Learn more, read all articles from the experienced boxing writer, and follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
