‘The truth has finally come out… I DIDN’T duck him’: Anthony Joshua hits out at Deontay Wilder for ‘dragging my name through the mud’ as American admits he was offered MORE money to face AJ than Tyson Fury
- Anthony Joshua was criticised last year for failing to fight Deontay Wilder
- Wilder claimed he ducked him and ended up fighting Tyson Fury instead
- American has now admitted Joshua’s team offered him more than Fury’s did
- AJ hit out at Wilder and said he ‘was trying to make me look like a bad person’
Anthony Joshua has hit out at Deontay Wilder for ‘dragging my name through the mud’ after Wilder admitted he was offered more money to fight Joshua than Tyson Fury, despite previously saying Joshua had ducked him.
The unified heavyweight champion and Wilder seemed on a collision course last year but a fight never materialised with the American laying blame on Joshua’s team.
Joshua was caught in the eye of a storm when Fury and the then WBC world champion Wilder made a deal without any difficulties under his nose.
Anthony Joshua said the truth about him ducking him Deontay Wilder has finally come out
Wilder (right) said Joshua ducked him after they failed to agree to a unification fight last year
But Wilder undermined his claims that Joshua shied away from a fight with him when he admitted recently that their offer was more lucrative than the one he got to face Fury in December 2019.
Joshua, who is due to defend his WBO, IBF and WBA world titles against Kubrat Pulev next month, has now spoken out against Wilder and insisted the truth has finally been revealed.
He told Sky Sports: ‘When time goes by, naturally the truth will always reveal itself. I get a lot of stick but I take it with a pinch of salt.
He’s since revealed AJ’s team offered him more than he got to face Tyson Fury in the first fight
Eddie Hearn poked fun at Wilder after his admission in a Tweet trying to get a trilogy with Fury
‘He admitted it. We made him a lucrative offer but he wanted to face Fury. So be it. If that’s what he wanted to do, fine. But he dragged my name through the mud.
‘While Wilder was trying to make me look like a bad person, that I didn’t want to enhance the sport, or fight certain fighters, I just had to roll with the punches.
‘He has come out and said it himself. We offered him a really good deal but he wanted to fight Fury.
‘People can take it how they want, and see what the truth is now.’
Rivals Joshua and Fury are set to meet in 2021 if they win their respective fights next month
Fury ended Wilder’s reign as the WBC champion in their second fight in February – the first was a controversial draw – but turned his back on a trilogy when an agreement could not be reached before the Bronze Bomber’s’ rematch clause expired.
The self-styled Gypsy King is set to make a UK homecoming on December 5 before facing Joshua for the undisputed crown next year.
Fury does not yet have an opponent but Germany’s undefeated former European champion Agit Kabayel has been offered the fight.
If Fury and AJ both come through their tests unscathed next month, the Brits are expected to collide for all the heavyweight belts in 2021.