Anthony Joshua has been labelled a ‘coward’ by Deontay Wilder as negotiations for their much touted unification fight collapses
The American World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion also blames the British-Nigerian for their respective parties inability to agree on a guaranteed sum of $50 million for Joshua to travel to the United States for the fight which Joshua’s team rejected.
“He was just a coward, straight out. He was just a coward. He didn’t want to fight. When a guy allows his people to not accept $50 million dollars, that’s a guarantee, you don’t want to fight,” Wilder said.
“When a guy offers me a $15 million flat fee, which is the worst offer in boxing history for a fight of this magnitude, they still didn’t want it. With that being said, they don’t want to fight – they just want to trick people, manipulate them, contradict and just be compulsive. We’ve moved on and now I’m in the biggest fight in the world, with Tyson Fury.
“Joshua needs someone to narrate the conversation, a middleman. I’m a grown man, I don’t deal with boys. I don’t need another man to reply to someone else, when we are right here face-timing each other. I think he’s a little fearful of me, so we’re gonna let him be.”
Anthony Joshua holds the International Boxing Federation (IBF), International Boxing Organization (IBO), World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Organisation (WBO) heavyweight titles and is set to fight again April 13th next year, at Wembley Stadium in London while Wilder will face lineal champion Tyson Fury at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on December 1.