Deontay Wilder has responded to calls from Anthony Joshua for a title fight in 2020 by confirming his own interest in a mega-fight.
Joshua recently reclaimed his WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO titles from Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia. He comfortably outboxed the overweight Mexican-American to rectify his shock defeat earlier in the year.
AJ then insisted that a fight between himself and Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury ‘must happen’ in 2020.
He told the BBC: “It has to happen in 2020, we’re in the same division, same era, if these guys want to make history, especially Wilder because he has the last belt.”
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My hope is that someone sees my page and decides not to give up. Clean hearts win 🖤
On the Cards
Wilder has responded by reciprocating Joshua’s desire to touch gloves.
The Bronze Bomber is set to defend his WBC heavyweight title against Tyson Fury on 22 February 2020.
But should he successfully retain his belts, it looks like a mega-fight with Joshua is on the cards.
When asked about Joshua’s recent call-out, he told Sky Sports: “It definitely has to happen,”
“I’ve been trying to make that happen for a long time and we’ll see what happens.”
“I know he’s probably getting a hell of a lot of people you know, telling him to fight, fight, fight, because we have been down this road once before.”
“So as boxing fans, we know how it goes now. Especially the boxing fans, you can’t be fooled at this point in time, from the first time.”
“So the second time we should put more pressure, more force that the fans want to see one champion, one face, one name in the heavyweight division.”
Watch Wilder’s words below:
Undisputed Champion
Fans have long wished for Wilder and Joshua to touch gloves but have so far been left disappointed.
But things are looking more promising as the two look to become the first of the century to conquer heavyweight boxing.
The British champion has declared his ambitions to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis achieved the feat in 1999.
AJ wrote on Twitter: “Let’s get Undisputed trending! That’s what I want & that’s what the people want..
I want it bad! I came to take over & not take part!”
Let’s get Undisputed trending! That’s what I want & that’s what the people want..
I want it bad! I came to take over & not take part!
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) December 13, 2019
The Greatest
Not only may fans finally get to see AJ and the Bronze Bomber face each other in the ring, they may also see history being written.
The winner, and consequently undisputed champion, would surely be hailed as the greatest boxer of this generation.
(Featured image source: Instagram/ Sky Sports Boxing and Twitter/ Coral)