Deontay Wilder has insisted he will fight Anthony Joshua even if he loses to Andy Ruiz Jr – but will never face him if he continues to lose.
The Bronze Bomber has vowed he will always be interested in a clash against AJ for as long as the Brit is in the heavyweight division, but stated he must not be getting knocked out.
Joshua – who is preparing to face Ruiz Jr in their rematch on December 7 – suffered the first defeat of his professional career at the hands of the Destroyer in June.
He was stopped in the seventh round at Madison Square Garden after being floored four times, with his trainer Rob McCracken admitting he knew his fighter was concussed in the seventh round.
WBC champion Wilder – who is expected to face Luis Ortiz in a rematch later this year – believes that AJ will have a long journey back to the pinnacle of the division should he lose once again.
The American has made it clear he will rather challenge Ruiz Jr if he prevails against Joshua as he looks to become the first undisputed heavyweight champ since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Speaking of the 2012 Olympic gold medallist, he said: “I’ll want to fight Joshua as long as he in the division. If he keep losing every time he fight, if it becomes like that, then that fight will never happen. But as far as now, there’s still an opportunity.”
He added: “Even if he loses against Ruiz, it’s still an opportunity. Even if he loses again to Ruiz, I still wanna fight him. But he can’t lose no more after that, or he’ll really, really be dropping. But it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens.
“He knows this is a crucial fight for him, that he must win this fight. I don’t think it’s over for him if he don’t win it, but it’s gonna be a long journey if he don’t win. We’ll see, but I still wanna fight him.”
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