Will Deontay Wilder fight Andy Ruiz before he fights Anthony Joshua in December? Will Wilder actually fight either man? Plenty of people are skeptical enough that the Wilder-Joshua fight – spoken of as it has been for some time, for Saudi Arabia in December – happens, let alone Wilder-Ruiz beforehand. But Wilder says he wants both fights: Ruiz first, then AJ.
Speaking with ESNews, the former WBC heavyweight champ laid into Ruiz in grand style, this when speaking about how Ruiz’s dad questioned the money offer his son received to fight Wilder. Wilder didn’t hold anything back as he compared his credentials and star power with those of the Mexican-American.
“I didn’t talk to Andy’s daddy about any type of money whatsoever,” Wilder said. “Andy’s gonna be 33 years old, f*****g broke, can’t support his children because his daddy made decisions for him. Decisions that he should’ve made for himself. They’re taking about 50/50? You ain’t nowhere compared to me. Stop that. Me and Andy are two different people. Andy was only champion for the blink of an eye. I’m a five-year, 10 title defence champion. What I possess is power, I put people on the edge of their seats every time, people come to see my God-given talent. One the other hand, Andy, what are we seeing from him? A short, fat fighter with small hands that make him look fast. That’s it. The only reason this fight would be exciting is because they wanna see how fast I would knock him out. Andy’s a one-round fight.”
But will we see it? Will we see Wilder-Joshua? Eddie Hearn has said that talks are currently underway in London with the Saudi money men, with Wilder’s people also in town to try and make a deal. So we will stay tuned on developments on that fight. But Wilder-Ruiz first, as a tune-up for Wilder? It seems not too many fans believe we will get both fights.
But when asked for a prediction on the Joshua fight, Wilder, giving AJ just a little bit more respect than Ruiz but not too much, said “Joshua’s a three-round fight.”
Again, will we get to find out?
