World Boxing News continues an exclusive interview with Anthony Joshua’s new trainer Angel Fernandez after a brief break over the Christmas period.
Picking up from his redemption with over Andy Ruiz Jr. earlier this month in Saudi Arabia, WBN asked Fernandez whether the points win makes AJ the number one heavyweight on the planet.
WBN ranks Joshua third due to the manner of the defeat against Ruiz, coupled with the fact Wilder and Fury shared a draw in December 2018.
Fernandez sees it different since Joshua avenged his solitary loss.
Answering directly to the question, Fernandez exclusively told World Boxing News: “Yeah. After that performance, yes.
“He’s got most of the titles. And quite a lot of people would’ve taken a warm-up fight before going into Ruiz but he went straight away into it. And especially after losing the way he lost to Ruiz.
“A lot of people and even friends close to me was saying ‘oh Angel’ and I was like, listen give the man some credit. Have you seen this video, did you see this, did you see that?
“I was like, just wait until Saturday night and see what’s going to happen.
“I believe at the moment he is the best heavyweight in the world. Alongside him, I also rate Fury a lot. I think they are the two guys in the heavyweight division to beat.
“But then again, Wilder is a very dangerous man. Wilder, technically is not as good maybe as Joshua or Fury but has got that dangerous right hand. He only needs one hand to land in 12 rounds and Fury found that out last time.
“So it will be an interesting fight the second fight between Fury and Wilder and I’m really looking forward to watching the fight,” he added.
TRILOGY
At present, Wilder leads on the pack on the WBN Divisional List, with Fury a close second ahead of their February 22 return.
An expected announcement of their rematch over the holidays has so far failed to transpire. Surprising given the fact that there are only eight weeks left on Saturday night.
Both Wilder and Fury are in training for the clash, which is set to take place in Las Vegas. Joshua could face the winner eventually, although the next bout is set to be the second of a trilogy saga.
Phil Jay is the Editor of World Boxing News.
