AJ: Deontay will not say no to dough
ANTHONY JOSHUA insists Deontay Wilder will fight him because he will not be able to resist sharing a £100million payday.
The Englishman wants the American to face him at Wembley on April 13 for the prize of the undisputed world heavyweight title after he defeated Alexander Povetkin in the seventh round on Saturday night.
Although negotiations remain stalled, Joshua says Wilder – who is fighting Tyson Fury on December 1 in the US – will not be able
to keep on refusing him for the showdown.
The unbeaten WBA Super, IBF and WBO king said: “It will happen sooner or later for sure, that fight will happen.
“We’ll find out who the best is sooner or later.
“I don’t think he wants to avoid me for too long because he’s getting towards the end of his career. This payday is his legacy.”
Wilder’s camp offered Joshua £38m to agree to all their terms for the unification clash.
And promoter Eddie Hearn claims that sum is “peanuts” compared to the sum of over £100m the fight is really worth.
He claims Joshua will fight Dillian Whyte again if Wilder rejects them once more and said: “If they want the deal, we can make it happen in April.
“The offer made to us had no real substance and will look like absolute peanuts when this fight is made.
“Now after there’s an 80,000 crowd, all the exposure around the world and that finish, that offer will look like peanuts.”
Joshua’s power hadn’t been seen in his last two fights but against Povetkin, he truly found his hammer of a right hand again.
AJ blew away the Russian’s resistance as he celebrated stoppage No .21 of his remarkable career.
The Olympic gold medallist had been nowhere near as destructive against Carlos Takam or Joseph Parker.
And he revealed he went the distance with the Kiwi to prove to his critics he could go 12 rounds.
Joshua answered them again when they questioned his power and made his point in emphatic fashion against someone who hadn’t been stopped in his 35 previous fights.
He said: “Twenty-two fights with 21 knockouts.
“I just listened to what people wanted. They said I couldn’t go 12 rounds, so instead of blitzing out Parker, I took my time and proved to people that I can.
“Just because in my 21st fight I decided not to knock him out, people said, ‘we need excitement’, so I went in there against Povetkin with a different mindset.
“That’s what I mean when I say I found my right hand again because that was the punch which ended the fight.”
That right in the seventh shattered Povetkin’s defences. The Russian went down under a succession of combinations before referee Steve Gray waved it off when he bravely got up and Joshua unloaded again.
Povetkin had proved an awkward opponent in the six-and-a-half rounds before this stunning finale.
Still, Joshua was in control before his explosive finish and cleverly peppered Povetkin’s body with his jab to wear down his resistance.
And he told how he had been struggling with flu in the past week.
Joshua said: “It hit me last week and I only started feeling better on Friday.
“But I thought to myself that I felt this way in training camp and still sparred 15 good rounds. I’ve got one geezer in the ring who will fade sooner or later, so let’s just get on with it.”