Lennox Lewis: Anthony Joshua’s bad decisions cost him Deontay Wilder undisputed heavyweight bout
British ring icon battled against boxing politics during his own glittering career but has no sympathy for AJ and promoter Eddie Hearn
ANTHONY JOSHUA cannot cry over his missed undisputed shot at Deontay Wilder after bad decisions from AJ and promoter Eddie Hearn blew his big chance.
Heavyweight legend Lennox Lewis was the last man to rule the division in its entirety and he wrestled outside the ring underhand negotiations he labelled ‘boxing politricks’.
Watford’s 29-year-old WBA, WBO and IBF king blamed the same sporting skullduggery for his failure to land a shot at Deontay Wilder’s WBC strap at Wembley on April 13 but Lewis can not sympathise.
The 53-year-old fight icon, who has been snapped up to commentate for FOX, said: “I don’t think it was complicated to make the Wilder fight, they were in the best spot possible to dictate exactly what they wanted.
“They cannot cry over spilled milk and say ‘oh I wish I could have got the fight’.
“They could have got the fight but they did not take advantage of their position. It’s a situation where they have to know what is going on in their business.
“The fact Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury are going to fight again has got everyone excited, they want to see that match-up and that has left Anthony Joshua out in the cold and it’s just down to bad decisions from his promoter.”
The Brit now faces an underwhelming bout with Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller on June 1 in New York, where he is set to earn around £25million for his USA debut.
The hype started last summer when Miller gatecrashed a press conference and mentioned Joshua’s beloved mum in some trash talk.
But Lewis was not fooled but that publicity stunt and he is not sucked in by the summer showdown.
He told SunSport: “I am with everybody else in this case, I wanted to see a better fight.
“When Anthony came to America last year and Miller came up and crashed his press conference, I thought that was big set-up and I was not fooled by it.
“I have only seen Miller fight once but I guess it’s the easy sort of fight they want to have in America and then go home.
"It’s not really a fight that will test Anthony.
“Miller is just an up-and-coming heavyweight who is trying to make himself known to the world.
"But no one really knows him in America and they don’t know him too well in England either."
Lennox Lewis will be a colour commentator on FOX PBC FIGHT NIGHT: LEO SANTA CRUZ vs. RAFAEL RIVERA on Saturday, Feb. 16