DEONTAY WILDER claimed he sensed “fear” in Anthony Joshua when they finally came face to face.
The heavyweight stars will share the same card on December 23 in Saudi Arabia but in separate bouts.
And they went eye to eye at the press conference to announce the stunning pay-per-view card.
But Joshua, 34, refused to call out his American rival on the top table.
And Wilder, 38, said on The Last Stand podcast: “Every time my name comes up he goes the other way.
“And it’s always been like this for almost a decade now. It’s been like that because of the fear that Joshua has towards me.
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“It’s because of what I’m capable of doing in that ring. We’ve seen it, women lie, men lie but numbers don’t lie.
“The proof is in the pudding and I’ve displayed this over and over and over again.
“It’s a thing that I understand but I don’t understand, you see something that can potentially happen and this man shows it over and over again.
“I understand that part but this is the hurt business, this is what we signed up for bro, to be warriors.”
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Joshua returns against Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin, 32, who famously left Tyson Fury, 35, needing 47 stitches in his 2019 loss.
Meanwhile, Wilder faces ex-WBO champion Joseph Parker, 31, who is a training partner of Fury’s.
The Bronze Bomber and AJ are lined up for a blockbuster in 2024 should they leave Riyadh victorious.
But when probed, Wilder said: “My main focus right now is doing what I need to do on December 23rd.
“I’ve got to get past Joseph Parker first and then we will talk about the future plans after that.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
