Anthony Joshua says his sole focus is on smashing Deontay Wilder’s head in.
The former two-time unified heavyweight champion scored a highlight reel knockout against late replacement Robert Helenius at the O2 Arena in London, England on Saturday night.
The first six rounds were fought at a slow pace but the large crowd on hand erupted when a Joshua right hand laid Helenius out cold in the seventh frame.
The bout was a final hit out for Joshua 26-3 (23) ahead of a mooted fight against former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder 43-2-1 (42) in Saudi Arabia in January.
The two boxers have long been linked to a potential bout dating back more than five years when the 33-year-old Joshua held the WBA, WBO and IBF titles and Wilder, 37, was the WBC champ.
Joshua refused to be drawn when asked how a fight between the pair would have played out earlier on in their careers.
“I don’t know,” Britain’s Joshua said during his post-fight press conference after the Helenius win. “That’s what I’m saying. It’s all the same shit. We’re gonna fight and what will be will be.
“I can’t look back and say what would be, what would’ve been. I’m just focused on fighting him now. That’s it. That’s what I’m focused on. No questions, I’m not trying to compare what would’ve been. It’s a weakness. I’m just focused on smashing [Wilder’s] head in now – and that’s it.
“Any time is a good time to fight. It’s only a fight. It doesn’t matter who it is. It could’ve been Wilder eight years ago or Wilder now, don’t matter. It is what it is at the end of the day. It’s only a fight and boxing wins. So roll on, really.”
American Wilder was looking at two different options for his next fight. One was Joshua, the other was Andy Ruiz Jr 35-2 (22). Wilder’s trainer Malik Scott recently explained why the Ruiz bout failed to come to fruition.
“What happened was that Andy tried to out-price himself,” Scott told Fight Hub TV. “Same way he did with [Tyson] Fury, same way he’s done with other fighters that he wanted to fight.
“This time he was dealing with someone that don’t have to fight him for money. So if you wanna play games he wants the same money that he was getting when he was a champion in a blink of an eye.
“You don’t get that same money: you’re a contender now. You don’t get that type of money. I don’t get mad at nobody for striving for higher revenue. It’s a tough sport. He did what he had to do as far as fighting for the gain of revenue for him and his family — it didn’t work and we’re onto bigger and better things.”
