By Geno McGahee
The last defense of the WBC Title by Deontay Wilder, 40-0-1, 39 KO’s, a draw against former champion, Tyson Fury, may have finally convinced Anthony Joshua, 22-0, 21 KO’s, the current WBA, IBF and WBO champion to make the fight. In the Fury fight, Wilder showed his strengths and weaknesses, knocking the challenger down with his power shots but also getting outboxed for the majority of the fight. To most that watched the fight, a new champion should have been crowned, but a draw wasn’t an outlandish call.
Joshua pummeled former champion Alexander Povetkin to the floor in his last fight and looked impressive doing so. He has been bothered by the idea that he has been ducking Wilder and now apparently wants the fight to happen in his very next defense. Joshua may have become a bigger favorite after the difficulties that Wilder had with Fury. He was hit with regularity and was confused. Considering Joshua’s superior boxing ability, he has to figure that he can exploit Wilder the way that Fury did but with punching power, he may just get a stoppage win and pick up the last of the remaining titles that he doesn’t own.
Wilder is most likely going to defend his title against Dominic Breazeale, 20-1, 18 KO’s. Breazeale has lost his only other title opportunity, a one-sided loss to Anthony Joshua. He is tough but gets hit a lot and that is not a characteristic that an opponent should have going against Wilder. It should be a relatively quick stoppage win for the WBC champion. As for Joshua, a rematch with Dillian Whyte, 25-1, 18 KO’s, is likely, but despite the improvements that Whyte has made, he won’t beat Joshua.
Joshua has April 13th open for an opponent and he is rallying to get the WBC champion into the ring, but Wilder is reportedly not answering the call. With Joshua being a DAZN fighter and Wilder being a Showtime fighter, there may be more obstacles making this fight than meets the eye. It’s hard to believe that Wilder would not want this fight after all this time trying to make it happen. At one point, he offered Joshua 50 million to take the fight.
Joshua vs. Wilder has to happen in the near future for the sake of the sport. Fights like Riddick Bowe vs. Lennox Lewis never happened and it’s still discussed to this day. Fights like Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, JR., happened too late. The time is now for Joshua – Wilder, but April 13th will most likely not be the day.
