Wilder claims he agreed to fight Joshua last year but Brit pulled plug on blockbuster showdown
WBC heavyweight king hits out at Joshua's 'bulls***' talks and insists 'they don't want' unification fight
DEONTAY WILDER claims Anthony Joshua does not want a unification bout, accusing the Brit of walking away from the blockbuster showdown last year.
The WBC heavyweight king claims he agreed to fight unified champ AJ last year, only to be told the Brit would face WBA mandatory Alexander Povetkin instead.
Speaking on , Wilder, 33, blasted Joshua for his “bulls***” negotiations and suggested the WBA, IBF and WBO holder is not interested in fighting him.
We ain’t chasing them. They act like he’s this global superstar around the world, but they came to realise he’s not.
Deontay Wilder on Anthony Joshua
Wilder said: “When they said they had no date for September. They said you get $15million and we get the rest.
“Then if you beat me, in a rematch we get 50-50 - it don’t work like that.
“When we accepted everything, they came out and said there’s no date in September. That’s when the Povetkin thing came about.
"They like, ‘Oh now there’s a date in September for us’.
“As soon as we agreed everything, that’s when they came out with ‘Povetkin is the mandatory’ and all that bull****, man. It was a whole bunch of bull. They didn’t want the fight.
“We ain’t chasing them. They act like he’s this global superstar around the world, but they came to realise he’s not. It’s wasn’t like that. But they stayed on their high horse.
“They didn’t want to do it, so we went to the next person (Tyson Fury).”
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Joshua, 29, beat Povetkin in seven rounds while Wilder found himself lucky to walk away with his world title after a contentious split-decision draw against Fury, 30.
Wilder looked set to fight Fury again, until the Gypsy King signed a lucrative £80m deal with US network ESPN - who subsequently shelved the rematch.
Instead The Bronze Bomber will face his WBC mandatory Dominic Breazeale on May 18, while Fury takes on unherald German Tom Schwartz on June 15.