11 December 2023 , 19:08
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Deontay Wilder wasn't surprised that Anthony Joshua refused to speak to him during a tense meeting ahead of their upcoming fights.
Heavyweight rivals Wilder and Joshua both appeared at the 'Day of Reckoning' press conference last month to promote their respective fights against Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker. Wilder and Joshua have been linked to fight for almost a decade and both men are hoping a win later this month will finally set up their highly anticipated meeting.
Wilder admitted he was happy to be in the same room as Joshua after years of back and forth and wished him good luck for his fight against Wallin, but the Brit stared blankly at his rival and didn't reply to him. Wilder has now expressed his frustration at Joshua for "going the other way" whenever his name is mentioned.
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"Every time my name comes up he goes the other way, he’s been like this for almost a decade now because of the fear that Joshua has towards me. It’s because of what I’m capable of doing in that ring. We’ve seen it, men lie and women lie but numbers don’t lie. The proof is in the pudding and I’ve displayed this over and over again," Wilder told The Last Stand podcast.
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"It's a thing that I understand but I don't understand, you see something that can potentially happen and this man shows it over and over again. I understand that part but what I don't understand is, you are a fighter bro. This is what you signed up to do, what did you think it was going to be about?"
Joshua and Wilder came face-to-face after the press conference was over and the pair smiled whilst shaking hands and exchanging words. Wilder has remained critical of his rival by labelling himself as a born-fighter whilst stating the Brit is manufactured and has been fed by a silver spoon for his entire career.
Wilder insisted that he won't focus on fighting Joshua unless things go his way against Parker as he added: "My main focus right now is doing what I need to do on December 23rd, I’ve got to get past Joseph Parker first and then we will talk about the future plans after that."