American boxer Deontay Wilder, who will fight against Joseph Parker on December 23 as part of a boxing evening in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), turned to Briton Anthony Joshua. Wilder, despite criticizing his longtime division opponent, urged Joshua to defeat Otto Wallin that same evening and prepare for the long-awaited fight.
“I think I shocked a lot of people when I showed up to the press conference cool, calm and collected, but that's how I always am.. There are good places to say “I've been waiting for you, Anthony Joshua” and this wasn't like this. I didn't have to say anything – others said it all, including Jarrell Miller. I can't stand him, but he told the truth about A.J.. I didn't have to tell AJ anything.. It would seem that many have already expressed their attacks on him. Looks like there is no respect for this guy and they tell him what they want. I think what upsets him is that he has to go from one state where everyone respects you to another state where you have lost several times and now everyone thinks you can be beaten. That's why they talk nonsense about you and they will get to you.
This is what I got from being around him.. I think he was nervous all day. People don't know how I act in different situations, so when I came out in that light, I think it shocked a lot of people. I wish AJ all the best, but so much time has passed between me and him. The anticipation, the hype, the #1 fight in the world. Everywhere I go, this is the main fight that people ask me about. One day, soon, it will finally take place after so many years of trying to organize it again. Recently, their team admitted that they refused $50 million for a fight with me, cheating me, fixing fees and so on. Thanks to patience, over time the truth reveals itself, and it did. He's got to get Wallin out of the way, and I've got to get Parker out of the way, and may God be with us in these fights. When we emerge victorious, we’ll start the big game,” BoxingScene quotes Wilder as saying.