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Deontay Wilder has goaded long-time rival Anthony Joshua by suggesting the IBF, WBA and WBO champion is now "begging" to fight him.
The American maintained his unbeaten record and kept his WBC strap after the split decision draw with Tyson Fury earlier this month despite being dominated for long stretches in Los Angeles.
Wilder and Joshua have been in negotiations over a world title unification clash for some time with the Alabama-born fighter insisting Eddie Hearn and the rest of the Brit's team are growing increasingly desperate.
"They're definitely begging now. He's trying to reach out all of a sudden," he said on Joe Rogan's podcast. "His management have been trying to reach out to mine as well.
Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder - in pictures
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"He could have had this opportunity, he had many opportunities; he could have fought Luis Ortiz, he could have fought me, he had a chance to fight [Tyson] Fury.
"But people want to know who's the best, especially after seeing this Fury fight, and I've been trying to show people who is the best. I'm always going to say I'm the best until I'm defeated."
“The WBC thing is totally irrelevant and shame on any reporter that reported it as 'The WBC order a rematch' because they haven't ordered a rematch," he said.
“They've said they'll sanction a rematch. There is a mandatory due and that's Dominic Breazeale and they're basically saying they would approve this fight – 'we encourage it and we would sanction it, we basically give it our blessing'.
“It doesn't change anything at all, but Wilder may choose to rematch Fury, it's a big fight. It just all depends how much Wilder wants to be undisputed champion. He's always gone on about 'one face, one champion' well this is it.
“We may never get another chance. Wilder may get beaten by Fury, Joshua may get beat. Who knows? But this is the chance for all the belts on the line.”
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