Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in October last year, he was able to close his two previous defeats when he defeated a former sparring partner Robert Helenius in the first round. The win ended Wilder's two-loss streak (43-2-1, 42 KOs), who lost twice from 2020 to 2021 Tyson Fury.
At 37, Wilder is back at number one in the rankings, and claims that had he been presented with the right financial terms, he would have already accepted fights with two former world heavyweight champions who have previously faced each other twice.
“Joshua doesn't want to fight me. It's simple and clear. I don't know why people keep asking me about this,” Wilder said in an interview with Eli Seckbach. Everyone should have figured it out when he was offered $50 million to fight me and he didn't take it. Even moving up the career ladder, Joshua doesn't want to fight me. The fans should have guessed that there was something fishy about it."
Wilder and Joshua were in talks for a potential meeting when they were both defending champions. In 2019, Wilder pulled out of a $100 million deal with DAZN to fight Joshua, citing dishonesty. In September, Wilder's manager Shelley Finkel said Wilder was ready to fight Joshua.
Joshua (24-3, 22 KOs) has repeatedly stated that the fight with Wilder "has to happen" one day because they are both fighting in the same era. Joshua has previously stated that he would like to fight Wilder or Tyson Fury - or both - in 2023. But first he will fight Jermain Franklin on April 1st.
The more realistic candidate for Wilder at the moment remains his PBC stablemate. Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2, 22 KOs).
Andy is a good fighter. I like his speed, his readiness and his courage, but to defeat me, this will not be enough for him,” Wilder said. “He will have to add an additional recipe to everything I have mentioned. He'll have to add some more because I'm better. I am much better. That's why they're afraid of me. To cope with me, you will need additional help, and one person is simply not enough here.
