Deontay Wilder enjoys new chance to fight Anthony Joshua ‘behind enemy lines’

Deontay Wilder wants to finally fight Anthony Joshua before they both retire from boxing.

The heavyweight rivals have failed to negotiate a meeting several times since 2017, then signed off on a meeting in March of this year.

However, Wilder was beaten beforehand by Joseph Parker, and so AJ faced Francis Ngannou, who won by a devastating KO.

The American is now set to make his return against Zhilei Zhang on June 1 in Riyadh as part of the Queensberry-Matchroom 5 vs 5 event, which also features Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois.

And AJ revealed that His Excellency Turki Alalsikh – the man who rules boxing in Saudi Arabia – wants him to face one of the winners of the two head-to-head bouts on September 20 or 21 at Wembley Stadium.

Asked if he would be ready to fight Joshua in London, Wilder told Sportsbook Review: “Mr.

“I have been in such situations, when I fought the gold medalist in Moscow, we were in the lion’s den.

“When you walk into the arena, except for the Russians, and you feel their breath coming out of their mouths, ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ and you feel their breath raise the hairs on the back of your neck as you walk. They know that you have no one to represent you.

“You’re behind enemy lines and you get a big adrenaline rush. It’s an amazing feeling, so I have no problem coming to London.

“It would be amazing for me, but the only thing about coming to Russia that would be different from the UK is that I have a lot of fans in the UK and I think they will come out and represent me even though I’m fighting their countryman.

“All these fights are great to talk about, but I have to deal with it on June 1st.

“It’s been a while since that fight with AJ.

“It’s easy for them to talk about it now because I already have a task to do, but let’s see what type of conversation they’ll have when I do my task, then there’s no hiding, nobody. will be able to hide, no one will be able to tell honestly without any seriousness.

“When I do what I have to do, then you have to be a man of your word and do what you said you were going to do.”

Wilder continued: “I want it. I’ve never run from a fight, I’ve never shied away from a fight, no matter what you’ve heard over the years.

“I never ran over anybody, I never dodged anybody, I got the short end of the stick just to get a fight, that’s the God’s honest truth.

“I’m here and when I do what I have to do, let’s continue this fight.

“I want the biggest fight possible, but it all depends on June 1.

“I will pack my bags and come to Wembley happy. When I come to the UK, they welcome me with open arms.

“It’s amazing to see the people and receive the appreciation and hospitality. It makes me feel like it’s my second home.”

Discussing Joshua’s resurgence under new trainer Ben Davison, Wilder added: “I like what AJ has done so far, but only time will tell.

“Just keep winning and I’m going to do the same, I’m coming back with that fire and desire in me.

“And let’s see our match. We won’t really know until we fight and meet each other.

“There’s a lot to be said at the moment about who’s been fighting to get back to this stage, but we’re not going to get into all that.

“I don’t care about all that. He won and that’s the main thing. But we’ll see soon, and I mean soon.”