Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HEAVYWEIGHT UNIFICATION FIGHT AJ TAUNT WILL MAKE DEONTAY WILDER
Joshua insists Kiwi Parker will provide a much tougher fight than the big-hitting American
ANTHONY JOSHUA has aimed a dig at Deontay Wilder by claiming Joseph Parker is a tougher fight.
Joshua faces WBO heavyweight champ Parker in a unification clash on Saturday week and says the unbeaten Kiwi is better all round than Wilder.
The WBA Super and IBF king says Parker has a greater variety of shots compared to WBC champ Wilder, who he claims relies on his clubbing right hand to knock out opponents.
“Yeah, all round I feel Parker is tougher,” said Joshua. “Left hook, right hand, swinging one right to the body, he also likes a left hook to the body.
“When you talk about Parker, you talk about his speed, his stamina, he’s got a good chin.
“You talk about more stats and facts with him than saying he just has a right hand.
“Parker has an all-round game. That’s what makes it a dangerous, dangerous fight.
“I haven’t seen Wilder throw that many body shots. Wilder relies on the right hand, so I think Parker is a better all-rounder.”
Wilder will be at ringside at Cardiff ’s Principality Stadium, summarising for American TV, and he and Joshua remain on collision course to see who is the undisputed heavyweight king of the world.
Joshua, 28, was unimpressed by Wilder’s stoppage of Luis Ortiz in the American’s latest defence of his WBC crown earlier this month.
He felt that after 40 fights and nearly a decade as a pro, Wilder should be stopping challengers like Ortiz.
“When he won, I just thought he’s supposed to do that,” said Joshua. “He’s a 10-year pro. He turned pro in 2008 after the Beijing Olympics, so after nearly 10 years as a pro, you’re supposed to beat Ortiz.
“It was his 40th fight. I just looked at it vice-versa and thought by my 40th fight, no-one should be giving me problems.
“I just thought, by my 40th fight, I should be a seasoned professional.”
Joshua was his usual relaxed self yesterday at his training camp at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield and plans to be lighter than the 18 stone he weighed for his last fight against Carlos Takam.
He knows the 78,000 crowd next Saturday will expect him to stop Parker, despite the New Zealander’s perfect 24-0 record, because he has won all 20 of his fights inside the distance.
Joshua’s epic victory over Wladimir Klitschko has also raised expectations, but the 2012 Olympic champ says the only pressure he feels is to perform.
“It’s a national holiday when I fight,” he joked. “But I don’t feel that pressure. It’s pressure I put on myself, isn’t it?
“The pressure is more about the performance. I know I can slug out a win, we have always got that. It’s performance that makes your stock rise.
“The pressure is on the performance more because if I perform, then the outcome is a win.” WBA AND IBF champ WBC champ WBO champ