Anthony Joshua talks UFC, Parker and Wilder on media conference call
Ahead of his heavyweight title unification bout with Joseph Parker, Anthony Joshua talked about the fight on a media conference call. Here are the highlights.
Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) will try to add Joseph Parker’s (24-0, 18 KOs) WBO heavyweight title to his collection when they fight on Saturday, March 31. Ahead of his unification bout, Joshua talked to the media about his opponent, UFC rumors and Deontay Wilder.
The Telegraph reported that the UFC made a promotional offer to Joshua which could earn him an estimated $500 million dollars.
Joshua didn’t confirm that an offer was made, but he did express interest in discussing business with UFC President Dana White.
“I’m interested because we can all work together,” said Joshua. “Mine and Eddie’s [Hearn] relationship is a really good working relationship. I’m sure Eddie has an interest in working with Dana White. If it’s good business, it makes sense.
“I’m happy that Dana is coming into the game,” Joshua added. “Hopefully, he can add some excitement and we can progress forward and make some good money and make some good fights.”
Joshua last fought in October of 2017 against Carlos Takam. The referee controversially stopped the bout in the 10th, which gave Joshua a TKO victory. It wasn’t his best performance, and some question if Joshua’s mass was becoming detrimental. He weighed 254 pounds for that fight.
When asked about his ideal weight for his fight with Parker, Joshua responded, “Let’s say 17.5, 17.4.” That would equal about 242-243 American pounds.
“This isn’t Weight Watchers,” Joshua said. “No one should focus on their weight. I do feel that your weight has to adapt with the style of fighter you’re facing. With Carlos Takam, he was a shorter fighter. He came in on the inside and ended up headbutting me. So I knew that I kind of had to be able to lean on Takam and tire him out and so on.”
Joshua is unique in the boxing world because he is one of the few fighters that possesses a 100 percent knockout rating. He appreciates how his rating looks on his record, but it’s not his focus.
“It’s great for the record for sure, but at the same time it’s not as important in terms of fulfilling your gameplan,” Joshua said. “I don’t think there’s any heavyweight in history that’s been able to go their whole career with purely knockouts on his record. So I don’t expect to be the first one.”
There’s a lot of noise surrounding a future matchup between Joshua and WBC champion Deontay Wilder. FanSided asked Joshua to assess Wilder’s performance against Luis Ortiz. Joshua wasn’t impressed.
"Someone asked me that and I said Wilder done [sic] what he’s supposed to do. He’s supposed to win. He’s supposed to beat someone like Luis Ortiz. Ten years as a professional in any craft, let’s say you’re working in sales, if you can’t sell a person a Mercedes Benz, or whatever car it is, you’ve got big issues. Wilder’s had that experience to be able to dominate the division and whoever he’s fighting. He just done [sic] what was routinely supposed to happen to get the win. He struggled a bit, but he got there in the end and that’s all that matters. That’s what shows in the history books — a W. So I’m happy for him."
Next: 5 boxers bound for boxing’s pound-for-pound list
A contest between Joshua and Wilder for undisputed status is what fight fans want to see the most, but Joshua needs to get past Parker first, which is no guarantee.