Two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has revealed how he would target a ruthless early knockout win over WBC king Deontay Wilder if they finally meet in an undisputed world title fight in 2020.
The rival heavyweight champions hold all four titles between them, with Joshua regaining his WBA ‘Super’, IBF and WBO belts in a rematch win over Andy Ruiz Jr, while Wilder defended his WBC strap with a seventh-round knockout win over Cuban southpaw Luis Ortiz.
Joshua produced a masterful display of back-foot boxing to defeat Ruiz Jr on points in Saudi Arabia, but insists he would employ a far more aggressive style to prevent Wilder from finding the range for his destructive right hand.
Analysing Wilder’s win over Ortiz, Joshua told Sky Sports: “He wouldn’t be there to do that in the seventh round. I would go in to knock him out. It’s heavyweight against heavyweight, champion against champion.
Joshua said: “We’ve done it, we’ve unified it, in the space of 20 odd fights. He’s had 40 odd fights. How come he hasn’t managed to unify the division yet?
“If he’s looking for it, we’re the ones to do it with, and we’re not hard to find. We’ve got a great team behind us, so reach out.
“Even though there are two at the minute, I’ll let the people decide who they think is the real heavyweight champion right now.
When discussing sparring with British rival Tyson Fury to help him prepare for his next fight with Wilder on February 22, Joshua said, “It’s all for experience at the end of the day. What I learnt from myself and who I am – if I make a mistake once, I don’t make it again.
“With Fury, sparring him for the first time, maybe for my benefit I might go in there and just batter him around the ring or he might batter me around the ring.
“If that is the case, I know I can take my notes and go back when I’m ready to fight him and correct all my wrongs.
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“Everyone’s like ‘you wouldn’t do it’ but no one knows how my brain works. Everyone talks from their own experiences and I can only talk from my own.