Deontay Wilder vows to meet Anthony Joshua despite upset loss: “The fight still can go on”

Former heavyweight boxing champion Deontay Wilder still wants to face Anthony Joshua.

‘The Bronze Bomber’ and ‘AJ’ returned on the same boxing card over the weekend in Saudi Arabia. In the main event, Anthony Joshua faced former title challenger Otto Wallin. Meanwhile, the co-feature saw Deontay Wilder face former champion, Joseph Parker.

Pre-fight, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua revealed that they had signed a deal to fight on March 9th. All the two boxers had to do was win on Saturday, and the Brit held up his end of the bargain. Joshua scored a stoppage win over ‘All In’, doing his job. Sadly, that wasn’t the case for the hard-hitting Wilder.

In the co-main event, Deontay Wilder was battered by Joseph Parker. The Australian rocked the champion badly in the eighth round, nearly getting a finish. While the stoppage never came, he won nearly every round on the scorecards. In the process, the American heavyweight seemingly lost out on a massive payday against Anthony Joshua.

Post-fight, Eddie Hearn confirmed that they planned to take Anthony Joshua in a different direction. However, Deontay Wilder believes that’s what the Matchroom executive was hoping for all along. Speaking with 78SportsTV following the defeat, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ discussed the loss.

There, Deontay Wilder stated that he would still love to fight Anthony Joshua on March 9th. However, he’s aware that his loss disrupted things, and that the Brit will likely go in another direction. To him, that’s a sign that his longtime foe never wanted to fight him in the first place.

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Deontay Wilder believes Anthony Joshua is avoiding March bout

“It’s just so much going on, man.” Deontay Wilder stated to 78SportsTV, when asked about the possibility of facing Anthony Joshua in their planned March boxing match. “They really don’t want that fight. They really don’t want that fight, and when I lost, you saw how happy he was coming out. I laughed… [It was like] Christmas was today [for them]. You seen that s*it? I ain’t lying, he ought to thank me boy.”

He continued. “I ain’t lying, I saw it in the back, I bust out laughing. I said that ‘That n*gga happy as f*ck’… Boy, I made him, I made him be able to perform like that. ‘I ain’t got to fight Wilder?’ The rumor was he was talking about retiring if I won…They didn’t have true intentions on fighting, they can say what they want. But I know for sure. This is what I know for sure, and my heart is shattered… Although it’s still on, they can escape if they want to. Nobody would look [at them] wrong.”

“…Like I said, March 9th, the fight can still go on,” Deontay Wilder concluded. “We can still fight because they already said [it would happen] win, lose, or draw. [But] this is a perfect fight way for them to get out.”

What do you make of these comments? Do you still want to see Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua?