Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua are scheduled to fight in January. Wilder held the WBC heavyweight belt before surrendering it to Tyson Fury. Joshua, on the other hand, was previously the unified heavyweight champion. before losing his title to Oleksandr Usyk.
A clash between two of the strongest punchers in the heavyweight class is still a highly alluring event, especially to Saudi Arabia’s financiers who want to bring the fight to the Middle East.
Joshua showed off his frightening strength against Robert Helenius on Saturday night. In the seventh round, he finished the fight with a single punch to tie the score and put an end to the fight.
The fact that their battle continued after the first period, though, also demonstrated how Joshua’s boxing has evolved and become much more reserved.
However, they also result in unfavourable Wilder comparisons. Helenius was defeated by Joshua after seven rounds. Helenius lost in the opening round of Wilder’s fight with the Finn last October.
Joshua however is seemingly undeterred by the prospect of boxing the dangerous American, and is most likely to go into that fight next.
That’s exactly what Joshua expects. “Roll on,” he said. “There’s no worry to me when it is. I’m just happy we can get the fight going and I think people appreciate that.
“I’m doing my best to keep heavyweight boxing on the map.”
He doesn’t, however, believe their respective performances against Helenius need to be compared.
“Wilder’s got a good right hand, I’ve got a good right hand but [we’re] both completely separate fighters,” he said. “[For me there was] a switch of opponent. Switch of gameplan, I just followed it as best I could and got the victory in the seventh round.”
Joshua insisted he did not underrate Helenius. “His reputation was damaged due the fact that he was knocked out in a round but he’s a very good operator minus that,” Joshua said.
“We’re trying to shut each other’s advances down,” he explained of their bout on Saturday. “It’s a game of chess. When you’re playing it’s interesting. It’s a thinking man’s sport.
“Why am I going to go in there and trade from round one? Break him down.”
Joshua is a more patient boxer now. But his tremendous punch power hasn’t deserted him. Even though finding that finish took him longer than expected, it still came in an expertly executed combination.
But he wasn’t counting on that for the Wilder fight, Joshua insists.
“Knockouts are good of course,” he said. “It’s not so much the knockout, it’s just the ring activity which gives me confidence, that’s what’s important.”
Wilder could be one of the final chapters in his career. When asked how long he had left in boxing, he simply replied: “Not long.”
Joshua must already be thinking about how he will close out his time in the sport. Wilder, the biggest fight he could get without a world title on the line, clearly is part of those plans.
“I believe that for years I’ve played my part in bringing entertainment to heavyweight boxing,” he said.
Joshua wants to be remembered as the “guy that fought everyone”. Stepping into the ring with Deontay Wilder, even in a non-title bout, would only enhance that reputation.
That’s what he wants next. “We’ve just got to hope the other team play ball as well,” Joshua said.
“I’m just focused on smashing his head in now. And that’s it.”