METRO
Deontay Wilder has sensationally claimed that Anthony Joshua would have retired rather than fight him had the Bronze Bomber beaten Joseph Parker in order to set up a long-awaited showdown.
The two heavyweights were due to finally face off in March next year after agreeing a deal, though both had to overcome testing bouts in Saudi Arabia on Saturday’s Day of Reckoning first.
But Wilder was out-punched and dominated by Parker, with all three judges scoring the bout in the Kiwi’s favour – a shock result that torpedoed any potential for a fight against Joshua.
AJ, the co-headliner in Riyadh, took on Otto Wallin mere minutes later and had no issues, dismantling the Swede and breaking his nose before he retired on his stool.
A fight against Filip Hrgovic for the potentially vacant IBF belt now looks like Joshua’s most likely next move, though Wilder insists the Brit never wanted to face him and would have tried to back out of their bout had he managed to beat Parker – and even took credit for AJ’s dominant display against Wallin.
‘They really don’t want that fight,’ Wilder told 78SPORTSTV. ‘When I lost, did you see how happy he was coming out?
‘I broke out laughing, I said, “He’s happy as f***!” I made him able to perform like that.
‘He was like, “I ain’t gotta 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.’
Wilder also downplayed Parker’s performance and felt his defeat was purely down to a lack of activity, having only spent three minutes inside the ring across the last two years.
