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Anthony Joshua shows his hand by admitting he 'needs' Deontay Wilder fight following Carlos Takam victory

WBC champion Wilder is being lined up to face Dillian Whyte, but Joshua has risked his position in the negotiation market by accepting both he and heavyweight boxing need this fight to happen

Declan Taylor
Sunday 29 October 2017 18:45 GMT
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Anthony Joshua retains titles in hard-fought win over Carlos Takam

Anthony Joshua has broken from the usually guarded protocol of boxing negotiation to concede he is now in the position where he “needs” the unification clash with WBC champion Deontay Wilder.

Joshua successfully defended his IBF and WBA heavyweight titles at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday via a 10th round stoppage of Carlos Takam, the nature of which drew boos from many of the 78,000 in attendance.

Referee Phil Edwards had waved off the contest even though Takam, who injured Joshua's nose with a second round headbutt, appeared able to continue regardless of the punishment he was shipping.

It mattered little to Joshua who moves to 20-0 with all inside the distance, while the pesky IBF mandatory situation has been finally put to bed. Now he can look ahead to what could be a huge 2018.

Joshua has made no secret of his desire to become the first heavyweight to hold all four major titles at once so Wilder and WBO champion Joseph Parker are the obvious targets.

However Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn is currently attempting to lure Wilder into a fight with a different London heavyweight, Dillian Whyte.

For now, any Joshua-Wilder megamatch seems some way off to say the least.

Hearn said earlier this month that Wilder would only receive a 50/50 split with fellow world champion Joshua over his “dead body” which suggested that negotiations so far have been less than fruitful.

But Joshua was honest almost to a fault when he was asked whether that fight with Wilder is now a matter of need over want.

Joshua's fight against Carlos Takam was waved off in the 10th round 

“Yes,” he replied without hesitation. “Boxing needs it and so do I, 100 per cent.

“It has to happen. We are easy to work with. Eddie knows what he’s doing. Eddie just wants to keep a lid on his jar and say, ‘calm down’.

“We can fill it up to the top and maybe spill a bit over but we are not filling the second jar.”

Hearn's argument is that Joshua not only holds two belts to Wilder's one but that the London 2012 Olympic medallist is in a different league when it comes to profile. It is hard to disagree.

Saturday night was the second time Joshua has filled a major stadium within the past six months while he is also generating big business on pay-per-view television. Wilder is currently doing neither of those things and could quite easily walk down most streets outside of his home state of Alabama without being stopped for a picture.

So, although he is aware of his own situation, Joshua believes Wilder also needs to face him for the good of his career.

Joshua believes Wilder needs the fight just as much as he does (Getty)

The 32-year-old 'Bronze Bomber' takes on Bermane Stiverne, again, in New York next month in what will be his 39th fight. He has won all of them so far with Stiverne the only person on his record to have heard the final bell.

“Wilder has had a lot of fights,” Joshua argued.

“It was interesting because coming to this fight, I was quite relaxed and I was thinking, ‘Imagine I had 40-odd fights’ and it is the same routine, having to fight the same fighters you’ve fought because you’ve had so many fights.

“I was quite relaxed because of the experience I gained in my 19th fight means I know how to approach my next 20 fights.

“He has done 40 fights, he has approached these fights so many times he is just desperate for a big fight. He needs a big name.

“He is thinking ‘I’m going nuts, I need a thrill, I need a buzz’. Imagine doing it 38 times, the same thing.”

Eddie Hearn is lining Dillian Whyte up for a fight with Wilder

Wilder, meanwhile, has responded to the calls to face Joshua although it's difficult to deduce exactly what he meant with his cryptic, contradictory statement in the wake of Saturday's Cardiff show.

“Kings don't chase other kings,” he said during an interview with prolific YouTube channel Fighthype.

“I've got a kingdom and I brought all the king's horses and all the king's men.

“I'm knocking on your kingdom doors. I declare war. I am declaring war on Anthony Joshua but I will not chase.”

For now, though, Joshua will treat himself to a fortnight's break before considering what lies ahead in 2018.

Joshia will fly to Dubai and take two weeks off to let his body recover

Joshua says his nose is only swollen, not broken, so he will be ready and able to box in the spring. But, after a two-fight year which has boosted both his bank balance and celebrity status almost beyond comprehension, the time is right to recharge his batteries momentarily.

“I will have two weeks off,” he said. “I'm going to Dubai but I'll train there.

“If I box in March I could have four or five weeks off but that's not good. I just think, I have to have a little bit of time to let the body recover because it takes time.

“Internally you get a bit bruised up so you need to let the body rest for a few weeks. I just think it's about being professional now.

“It's a relief to get this one out of the way – the whole show is a relief.

“There was a lot going on, a lot of changes. Everyone was focusing on 2018 and I'm just like 's***, I've got to win this fight'. Everyone saying how 2018 will be great and I've got this geezer in front of me right now that could shatter dreams. There is a lot of expectation on me.

“I need time. Everything is about timing. I’m not a one-hit wonder.

“People remember Floyd Mayweather for his last five or six fights, that’s what people remember him for. He waited. You need time at the top. With time you cement your legacy. At the minute people are starting to see who this heavyweight is.

“Then you start cementing your name and legacy, that’s when you become big in the game. It’s when even when you’re not boxing, you’re still big in the game and a superstar.

“Mayweather is still a superstar even though he stopped boxing because his name is cemented.”

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