Wilder insists on fighting Anthony Joshua

Despite losing to Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia, former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, insists he still wants to fight Anthony Joshua, former two-time heavyweight champion.

Parker stunned former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last Saturday night to put in doubt a long-awaited big-money fight against Anthony Joshua in 2024.

On the same night, Anthony Joshua delivered one of his best fights since 2018 after beating Otto Wallin in the fifth round through a technical knockout.

But the 38-year-old American boxer insists he still has his sights set on fighting Joshua but says Joshua will use the Parker loss to avoid getting in the ring with him.

“They don’t want that fight. When I lost, did you see how happy he was coming out?” Wilder told 78SPORTSTV.

“He was like, “I am not going to fight Wilder”. The rumour was he was talking about retiring if I won… March 9th, the fight still can go on. But this is a perfect way for them to get out.”

When quizzed about Wilder, whom he was supposed to fight in March but who had lost to Parker earlier in the evening, Anthony Joshua said: “I’m going to take the higher ground,” said Joshua, “and I hope he (Wilder) comes back.”