Sports
Joshua reiterates desire to face Wilder, not Fury, in next fight
British heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua has once again said he’s willing to take on WBC champion Deontay Wilder in his next fight and not Tyson Fury.
The 29-year-old is aiming to become the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 as he looks to earn the WBC belt on April 13.
Joshua boasts seven world title defences since winning the IBF belt against Charles Martin in 2016.
“I’m willing to fight Deontay Wilder April 13th in London, so I don’t know what more I have to do to get that message across,” Joshua stated on ESPN’S First Take.
“He’s [Wilder] more interested in fighting Tyson Fury, Tyson Fury holds no world titles.
“I can’t control what Deontay Wilder does, I can’t control what Tyson Fury does, or even as far as what they say, what I can do is control what I say and what I’m doing.
Read Also: Flying Eagles to face Niger, Burundi, S’Africa at U-20 AFCON
“I make sure with the negotiations, I’ve booked the date in advance, set the venue in advance and I’m making my point clear in front of everyone, I’m willing to fight anyone of these guys.”
“Especially the champion Deontay Wilder April 13th at Wembley, what more can I say. I’m not interested in Tyson Fury because he’s not the champion.
“That lineal status, when I was joining the heavyweight ranks – no one told me about the lineal champion.
“I knew about WBC, IBO, IBF, WBA and WBO and I got four of them, so I don’t know where this lineal just popped out of the woodworks from.
“But I five got to get my hands on that too and that’s the belt the worlds interested in, Fury can step in if he serious.
“That’s where I’m coming from, I want to fight the champions. I’m the one leading the pack, I’ve been doing that since I made my debut, five years in, seven world title defences and I’m running the game – I mean business, Joshua concluded.”
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...