Wilder hoping to go from Barclays to Britain

American heavyweight eager for unification Bout with Joshua

April 5, 2018 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

One belt isn’t enough for Deontay Wilder, who hopes to go from Barclays Center to Wembley Stadium later this year for a heavyweight unification bout against Britain’s Anthony Joshua. AP photo by Frank Franklin II

Share this:

Deontay Wilder built his reputation as one of the world’s top heavyweights right here in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn.

Now, the 32-year-old WBC heavyweight champion is eager to take his talents across the Atlantic and pick up four more belts as the undisputed titleholder of the division.

Wilder, who has made three of his last five title defenses at the Barclays Center, including his previous two bouts, indicated earlier this week that he is tired of waiting around for Britain’s Anthony Joshua, holder of the WBA, IBF, IBO and WBO crowns, to step into the squared circle with him.

But Joshua, fresh off last Saturday’s unanimous decision triumph over Joseph Parker in Wales, appears ready to take on the undefeated American, perhaps even as soon as later this year, at Wembley Stadium.

“Wilder, let’s go baby! Let’s go!” Joshua yelled from the ring, moments after improving to a perfect 21-0 for his career and winning for a second straight time since his epic technical knockout win over then-reigning WBA and IBO champ Wladimir Klitschko.

This call-out, as we often refer to it in our fair borough, prompted an almost immediate response from Wilder, who improved to 40-0 by scoring a monstrous TKO win over Luis Ortiz on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues last month.

Though he was initially scheduled to hold a conference call to discuss his future plans Tuesday, Wilder instead opted to issue a simple statement regarding what he hopes will be the biggest and most lucrative fight of his decadelong career in the ring.

“First of all, I want to congratulate Anthony Joshua on his win last Saturday night,” Wilder said. “Anthony, I am so glad we finally heard from you on Saturday and that you want to fight me as your next opponent and you want the fight to happen in the U.K.

“I accept that challenge and I am ready to come to the U.K. for my next fight. There is nothing on Team Wilder’s side to prevent me from fighting you next. You also said on Saturday that your team is ready to meet with [promoters] Shelly Finkel and Al Haymon from my side to get this deal done. They are also ready to meet with your team immediately. Let us know when. The sooner, the better.”

Whether its sooner or later, Wilder-Joshua figures to be the most important heavyweight bout featuring an American challenger or champion since Hall of Fame pugilists like Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe were dominating the division decades ago.

It’s hard to imagine the bout not taking place before either fighter steps in the ring with another opponent.

Wilder knew that his Barclays bout with Ortiz, one that was delayed four months because Ortiz failed a doping test prior to the initial Nov. 4, 2017 showdown date, was critical to his earning a shot at unifying the title, something that hasn’t taken place since Britain’s Lennox Lewis held that lofty moniker back in 1999.

The Alabama native, who took out Artur Szpilka in his Barclays debut in 2016 and knocked out Bermane Stiverne here in the first round last November, made sure his third Brooklyn fight would be his best, staving off several brutal rallies by Ortiz to emerge the victor.

“A true champion always finds a way to come back and that’s what I did tonight,” Wilder said from the Barclays Center ring that night.

“I showed everyone I can take a punch,” Wilder added. “He was hitting me with those furious punches, but they didn’t have sting on them. He was throwing combos that knocked me off balance. I just had to get my range back and my fundamentals back. And I was able to do that. I showed I was a true champion tonight.”

As did Joshua against Parker last Saturday night, albeit via his first-ever win by decision after knocking out his first 20 opponents.

Despite the victory, all anyone wanted to know from Joshua was whether he was ready to tussle with Wilder, who has double the experience and almost twice as many knockout wins at 39 and counting.

“One-hundred percent, 100 percent,” Joshua answered. “You’re asking me [if] I want to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world? The WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO.

“Twenty-one fights, six world championship fights. I am not into the hype. I am about the business. So, let’s talk business.”

The business of boxing has oftentimes been a sordid one, involving internal politics, if not outright corruption.

But Wilder-Joshua makes sense on seemingly every level right now, especially in the wake of Canelo Alvarez pulling out of his scheduled Cinco de Mayo rematch with Gennady Golovkin due to a banned substance suspension of his own.

The nixing of that Super Fight leaves the world wanting for another and Wilder and Joshua can provide it at Wembley Stadium this fall or winter.

“Thanks, Anthony, I can’t wait to meet you in the ring,” Wilder said in closing his statement Tuesday.

Neither can the rest of the world’s boxing aficionados.

Now, it’s up to the two camps to make it work.