Anthony Joshua challenges blustering heavyweight rival Deontay Wilder

London, April 2: Anthony Joshua has questioned whether motormouth rival Deontay Wilder truly wants to face him in a showdown to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion.

Joshua was forced to go the 12-round championship distance for the first time on Saturday (March 31) at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, where he won a unanimous decision verdict over previously unbeaten New Zealander Joseph Parker.

It meant the 2012 Olympic gold medallist added Parker's WBO crown to his WBA and IBF world titles, leaving WBC king Wilder as the final frontier in his quest for heavyweight domination.

Lennox Lewis was the last man to be the unquestioned ruler of boxing's blue ribband division in 1999, but growing antipathy between both fighters and their camps could prevent the most desired fight in the sport from coming to fruition.

Wilder was predictably unimpressed by Joshua's efforts in the ring over the weekend and the American's public outbursts surrounding talk of his fellow champion have become increasingly erratic – he sickeningly claimed, "I want a body on my record" this week.

Joshua, who now has 21 wins and 20 knockouts as a professional, is unsure Wilder's hunger for the bout is quite so rabid in reality.

Following the path that has been walked by boxing legends #AJBXNG pic.twitter.com/8usTd03AtH
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) March 31, 2018

"He's in a position where in 10 years as a pro he hasn't done what I have," he said. "You have to look at him and ask whether he really wants it.

"Just look at what we're doing and where we're going. There's no issue with fighting anyone. You just look through the record from my 21 fights.

"There's no fear, there should be no hold-ups. Sooner or later that fight should be in position."

Joshua warmed to the theme of Wilder's 40-0 record, with 39 stoppages, paling in comparison to his own.

The 32-year-old overcame a scare to stop Cuba's Luis Ortiz in his seventh title defence at the start of March but Joshua suggested he has not chased defining fights such as his own stunning 11th-round win over Wladimir Klitschko.

"Remember, he had the WBC belt when Klitschko was still fighting," he said. "I just think if he was so interested in becoming the undisputed champ, why didn't he say: 'Here's the belt your brother [Vitali Klitschko] had all those years. I've got it now, come and fight me.'

"He was happy doing his own little thing quietly. He never spoke of fighting me straight after that and then after the [Carlos] Takam fight…

"I'm in a great position because I can still fight top 10 heavyweights, it's not an issue. Either he's going to step up or not; my career will still go on."

Some 11 months...

On to the next one pic.twitter.com/jhy5rqZOly
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 1, 2018

Asked whether Wilder needed him rather than the other way around, Joshua replied: "With all due respect, yeah. Without being big-time, 100 per cent.

"He needs British boxing. He's bigger here than he is in the States because of us."

Joshua is open to facing Wilder next or later in the year, while his promoter Eddie Hearn fears the sanctioning bodies will scupper their quest for unification glory if the fight is not made by the end of 2018. His father Barry Hearn - the chairman of Matchroom Sport - believes talks could start in earnest next week

The IBF have called a final eliminator between Kubrat Pulev and former Joshua victim Dominic Breazeale, while the WBA's number-one ranked heavyweight Alexander Povetkin chillingly knocked out David Price on the Cardiff undercard.

Once such mandatory obligations are called, the risk is a once-in-a-career opportunity for Joshua and Wilder will pass them by.

"I'm doing it in a professional manner, I'm not talking about catching a body or killing someone," Joshua added to underline his own motivations.

"That's not negotiating, that's just talking. I'm trying to make stuff happen."

Source: OPTA