05 September 2023 , 15:04
500
0
Former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew has claimed Anthony Joshua may be about to shut down talks over a Deontay Wilder fight to focus on re-negotiating with Tyson Fury.
The legendary boxer has strong inside knowledge of Joshua's situation given his friendships with Eddie Hearn and the heavyweight himself, and says that the highly-anticipated Wilder bout could be about to fall by the wayside yet again. It had appeared a deal was all but done for a massive money showdown between the two hard-hitting heavyweights, with January a likely timeframe.
But Bellew claims that there are now talks of Joshua fighting in Africa, where his family has roots, against Fury in an even bigger world title showdown. The Brit has returned to winning ways over the last year after suffering back-to-back defeats against Oleksandr Usyk, and most recently knocked out Robert Helenius at The O2 arena.
“I am hearing rumours that [talks between Joshua and Wilder's teams] have stopped at the minute and [Joshua's side] are looking more towards Fury vs AJ again instead of AJ and Wilder," Bellew told Bitcoin Casinos. "The talk is of another fight going to Africa, which would be absolutely incredible. Rumble in the Jungle all over again in Zaire or something along those lines.”
Fury and Joshua have agreed to fight on multiple occasions, but the bout has never taken place for a number of reasons. Most notably in August of 2021 they were all but signed before Wilder ended up winning in arbitration and insisting that the WBC champion give him a trilogy fight that October.
Anthony Joshua advised to "play the game" by heavyweight boxing legend
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/anthony-joshua-deontay-wilder-fight-30869210
Which fight excites you more for Anthony Joshua; Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
“Deontay Wilder has got mind numbing power but so has Anthony Joshua, when he throws it," Bellew continued. "If you force him to throw, which Helenius didn't do, then it’s a different ball game. I think gun-shy is a little bit unfair, tentative is how I’d describe AJ’s performance.
“In my view I would just like Josh to get back to what he does best, which is to get on his chest and just throw punches. What happens to fighters is when we lose or get stopped it makes us vulnerable and wary. Sometimes we overthink things and I think that’s the phase he’s going through. He knows that he’s vulnerable and wary.”