Deontay Wilder will ‘make Anthony Joshua pay’ for wasting his time, says American’s coach

Joshua and Wilder have long been linked to one another, but a fight between the heavyweights has never come to fruition

Anthony Joshua will ‘pay’ for ‘wasting’ Deontay Wilder’s time in past fight negotiations if the heavyweights ever square off, the American’s coach has said.

Joshua and Wilder have long been linked to one another, but a clash between the Briton and the “Bronze Bomber” has never come to fruition.

Wilder, 36, is set to face Robert Helenius next month in his first bout since last October, when he was stopped by Tyson Fury for the second fight in a row to round out their trilogy. Meanwhile, Joshua is in talks to take on compatriot Fury before the end of the year despite recently losing to Oleksandr Usyk for the second time in 11 months.

“Anthony Joshua is a fight that Deontay will get up for,” Wilder’s coach Malik Scott said via Fair Betting Sites. “He’s up for Robert Helenius, he gets up for fights, but I just know how important knocking ‘AJ’ out would be to Deontay.

“So many people have wanted to see this fight over the years. I think it would be a treat for the pugilist themselves, I think it would be a treat to boxing, I think it’d be a treat to barbershops, I think it would be a treat to recreation centres, to little kids coming up in this game and coming up in life and anything they want to do – and from so many different perspectives.

“It’s extremely personal to Deontay, because the fight was in the process of being made. Deontay and AJ shared emails, and it didn’t happen, and so much time was wasted. Deontay felt AJ let the fight down. [Joshua’s promoter] Eddie Hearn and those guys let the fight down.

“So, it was extremely personal, time was wasted. Deontay didn’t get the big fight, and now fighting AJ will put him in a position to make them pay for that, to make them pay for wasting his time and make them pay for playing with emails, making them pay for things like that. Nothing will make him more happy on the night than knocking Anthony Joshua out.”

Anthony Joshua (right) and promoter Eddie Hearn (Getty Images)

Wilder was unbeaten before suffering his 2020 and 2021 losses to Fury, whom he fought to a controversial split draw in 2018.

Meanwhile, 32-year-old Joshua has lost three times, having been surprisingly stopped by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 before losing to Usyk on points last September and this August.

Wilder’s professional record stands at 42-2-1, with 41 of his wins having come via knockout, while Joshua is 24-3 with 22 KO victories.