Joshua is going Wild

ANTHONY JOSHUA believes he needs to face Deontay Wilder for the good of boxing. But the IBF and WBA heavyweight champion says he’ll have to reign for years before he can be called boxing’s biggest star. Joshua (left) battered Carlos Takam in Cardiff on Saturday night and now wants to face America’s WBC title holder Wilder in 2018. He said: “I need it, boxing needs it. It has to happen. Wilder has done almost 40 fights, he has approached these fights so many times, he is just desperate for a big fight. “He needs a big name. He is going, ‘I’m going nuts, I need a thrill, I need a buzz’.” Promoter Eddie Hearn would prefer to get the unbeaten American to London in February to take on Dillian Whyte before the winner faces Joshua. But Wilder (above) said: “Hearn can say what he wants. Let me

help you. You want Whyte and I want Joshua. Put them in a package and let me fight.

“I will knock out Whyte easy. Kings don’t chase other kings. I got a kingdom and I brought all my king’s men and all the king’s horses and now I’m knocking on your kingdom doors.

“I declare war. I am declaring war upon AJ. I will not chase him. We are going to lure you in, you can only run for so long and so far.”

WBO champion Joseph Parker will be an easier fight to make for Joshua, 28, and could happen as early as March but they may also have to deal with a WBA mandatory challenge.

But Joshua still does not believe he is the biggest name in the sport following Floyd Mayweather’s retirement.

He added: “You need time at the top. Mayweather is still a superstar, even though he stopped boxing, because his legacy is cemented.”