In the opinion of many boxing people, the two best heavyweights on the planet fought this past Saturday night in Los Angeles: Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. It is now up to rival champion Anthony Joshua to tackle one or both, the WBC champ and/or the lineal champ if he wants to prove that he is the best big man in the world today. Joshua was strangely silent on Saturday, the day of the fight, and on Sunday and Monday, yet he has finally responded to being called out by both Fury and Wilder – the pair of them referring to the WBA/IBF/WBO belt-holder as a “chicken.”
Here is what Joshua put out on social media today:
“What took this fool so long? Like we ain’t been interested?!! Anyway, well done Fury! They wanted to get you because they assumed you was finished!! I’ll give you a fair one when you’re ready! Either one of you!”
That’s a lot of exclamation marks! Regardless of whether or not Wilder took the Fury fight because he felt he was “finished,” the point is, Wilder took the fight – a fight Joshua has shown next to no interest in. It really is up to AJ to now do his talking with his fists, in a fight with either Fury or Wilder. But there is major talk of a Fury-Wilder II, so maybe Joshua will have to wait his turn. Now, and arguably for the first time, Joshua needs Wilder and Fury more than they need him.
It will be interesting to see who Joshua fights in April (on the 13th, at Wembley). If it’s Dillin Whyte in a rematch, fans may well decide to save their cash and wait for the Wilder-Fury rematch before shelling out any Pay-Per-View cash. Joshua against either Fury or Wilder is of course a massive fight, but Joshua now has to play the waiting game as he watches these two fighters, two men who were willing to put it all on the line, settle their differences before turning their attention to him.
In an ideal world, we will see Wilder-Fury II next year, with the winner (assuming there is one this time) then going on to unify the belts in another blockbuster with Joshua. Great times indeed for the heavyweights.
