Anthony Joshua called out by Deontay Wilder | Boxing | Sport

Deontay Wilder called out Anthony Joshua following his heavyweight victory over Derek Chisora. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ triumphed in a thrilling encounter at London’s O2 Arena on points and chose to deliver a direct message to Joshua, who was ringside, as he departed.

The two boxing icons had encountered each other prior to the bout, with Wilder striding directly past Joshua. Yet, on his return to his dressing room, as documented by DAZN Boxing, Wilder made eye contact and fist-bumped Joshua before declaring: “Let’s do it.” After passing Joshua, he subsequently added: “He’s scared as f***, let’s do it.”

Hearn said: “To be honest, we’ve been very focused about making the Tyson Fury fight. AJ did mention to me that he’s supporting Derek he thinks he’ll win, but if Deontay Wilder wins in style tonight, it opens a big fight with Anthony Joshua. We are here as friends and fans but got one eye on the game.”

With Wilder prevailing, a blockbuster clash between the pair appears feasible but may not be imminent, with the American having sustained a broken hand and possibly a rib as well, according to Chisora. He said: “I know I broke two things. His hand and his rib because he can’t talk and stand right now.”

Any immediate bout between Fury and Joshua is also firmly off the table, with The Gypsy King set to make his return to the ring next weekend when he takes on Arslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Fury has openly admitted to retiring on five separate occasions and recently revealed why Joshua played a significant role in his latest comeback.

He said: “The biggest turning point in this comeback for me was a tragedy that happened with Anthony Joshua. I was on holiday with my family in Thailand for Christmas, then I hear all that bad news that’s gone on, and I thought life is very short, precious and fragile and anything can happen at any given moment. You should never put things off until tomorrow or next year or next week because tomorrow is never promised to nobody.

“The Bible says ‘Tomorrow is not a gift, tomorrow ain’t promised, tomorrow is a mystery’. So we have to live for today. I made my mind up there and then that I’m going to come back to boxing because it’s something that I love and I’m passionate about and I’ve always been in love with, and there is no tomorrow to put it off too, so that’s why I’m back today for this big fight.”