Deontay Wilder's trainer has suggested Anthony Joshua is a long way from matching his heavyweight rival.
Joshua was looking to reclaim his unified heavyweight world titles in August during a second meeting with Oleksandr Usyk, but came up short after falling to a split decision defeat. 'AJ' now faces a rebuild in order to to contend for world honours, and is eyeing a series of contenders including Dillian Whyte and Wilder.
The 'Bronze Bomber' is currently ranked as the No.1. contender with the WBC and is expected to fight Andy Ruiz Jr in an eliminator next for a shot at Tyson Fury's world title. And the American star's coach Malik Scott believes only Wilder's three-time opponent Fury is considered a tough test in the eyes of the former champion.
"A Deontay [Wilder] that’s disciplined and a Deontay that is following a game plan, with all due respect that’s not a tough fight [fight against Ruiz Jr] for Deontay at all and that’s saying a lot because Andy Ruiz is tough," Scott said when assessing Wilder's potential next options after defeating Robert Helenius on BT Sport's Chatterbox. "His test is the Tyson Fury ’s of the game.
"I don’t believe the likes of Joshua, Usyk and Andy Ruiz – I don’t think they come close to Deontay when he’s focused and on point, I just don’t. Believe it or not, with this Deontay, I don’t think even Tyson Fury can beat him. If the fight [Wilder vs Joshua] does happen, I’d want it over in Dubai or with the Saudis. But I’m not the business man, I’m the head trainer – and there’s just never no telling how these things will end up.”
Wilder and Joshua have come so close to meeting in the past, with the pair holding extensive negotiations over a potential undisputed clash in 2018. However Joshua rejected a $50million offer from his rival's team to make the fight and the pair went their separate ways with Wilder instead meeting Fury for the first time.
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Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn made a fresh big-money offer to Wilder's team this year, after news broke that he would not be retiring. However the offer fell on deaf ears, but now Hearn has since confirmed Wilder's team have responded to the email and a dialogue is open between both camps.
Joshua recently suggested that he believes a fight with Wilder will now definitely happen despite previous failings at the negotiating table. “I look at Deontay Wilder in the same fashion,” Joshua told IFL TV. "He said he’s got a couple of years left, and he probably wants to put me on his hit list. So it’s a fight that’ll definitely happen now he’s more than eager.
"He’s a bit older now, so he’s looking to make the last [few years] of his career a successful one. He wants to fight some of the top names of the division. So yeah, I’m sure he’ll be keen [to fight me.]”
