Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has a very good feeling about the ongoing negotiations with former WBC champion Deontay Wilder for a showdown in early 2024.
The fight is being targeted for a date in January in Saudi Arabia.
“Things are positive,” Joshua told Sky Sports News. “In reality I’m going to focus on the Wilder fight for now.”
Initially, there was talk that that Joshua-Wilder would get paired with the undisputed fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, but Joshua doubts that scenario will happen.
Usyk makes a mandatory defense this weekend against Daniel Dubois, while Fury returns in October against former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
“Fury’s got to get past [Francis] Ngannou. Usyk’s got to get past [Daniel] Dubois. Good luck to both of them. Good luck to every party involved and we can sit down and then rejig things around,” Joshua said.
“The goal is to have Usyk and Fury compete for the undisputed heavyweight championship, myself and Deontay Wilder, two big punchers, great fighters, been to the top of the mountain, slug it out and may the best man win. It’ll be a great event potentially. Wait to see what happens and then finalize the devil in the detail.”
Both Joshua and Wilder are capable of ending a fight with a single punch.
But, Joshua is not planning to have a toe to toe punch-out with Wilder.
He intends to box and use his ring smarts to bring the victory home.
However, Joshua is more than willing to stand his ground if necessary.
“I’m a bit smarter than that. That’s my approach to boxing. My approach to boxing is IQ and intelligence,” Joshua said.
“At the end of the day it’s a fight and if it goes down that route [of a toe to toe fight], if someone’s good enough to bring that out of you, you’ve got to know that you’re man enough to stand up and fight for your territory. I’m saying I’m better than that and I should be able to beat any opponent, just by using one hand – I’m that good. That’s my mindset. Whoever’s good enough to bring that side out of me and take me to the trenches, let’s go. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking for an opponent that’s good enough to take me to the trenches.”