Anthony Joshua Is Ducking Deontay Wilder: Lennox Lewis Thinks Nigerian Doesn’t Want To Fight WBC Champion

Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis spells out in clear, unequivocal terms what Anthony Joshua has to do if he really wants to succeed him as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.He tells Joshua: ‘Go order Eddie Hearn to make the fight with Deontay Wilder. Now is the moment when you must take charge of your own destiny.’ Lewis is no doubt that it is the British end of the infamously prolonged negotiations which is sabotaging the heavyweight fight of the decade. Joshua and his promoter Hearn keep accusing Wilder of ducking but Lewis says: ‘There is no question that it is Wilder who wants the fight and it is Wilder who wants to prove that he is the man in this new heavyweight era.’Lewis added that: ‘I was with Wilder in Washington last week and it is clear Joshua doesn’t want the fight. He explained to me all the difficulties he is having with Anthony and Eddie, of how AJ is listening to Hearn. Deontay most definitely wants this fight more than any fight.’ One factor above all others convinces Lewis that this is the accurate version of the increasingly fractious events preventing a Wembley Stadium spectacular – the money. He explains: ‘Joshua said he would take $50m in a heartbeat but when that offer came he didn’t accept. I would have taken fifty million quicker than a heartbeat and gone through with any fight. But I never ducked anyone.’In fact, Lewis sees the current impasse as a trans-Atlantic reversal of when his American rival Riddick Bowe dumped the WBC belt in a London dustbin rather than defend that championship against him. As a result Lewis was promoted to that vacant world title and now reminds Joshua: ‘Bowe did everything he could to avoid fighting me but I forced the situation. I did so by ordering my manager Frank Maloney to go out and do whatever it took to make the fight. Yes or yes. No arguments. Then Riddick had to meet me or vacate. It comes to the point where the boxer has to take over from the manager or promoter as The Boss. ‘Oscar De La Hoya and me were the first to take charge of our business. I took control of my destiny and opened up my chance for greatness. Anthony needs to do the same with Eddie.’Lewis, who shared a ring with Evander Holyfield, twice, Vitali Klitschko, and Mike Tyson – among many notable opponents – adds: ‘Apart from Riddick, all the leading heavyweights of our era fought each other. That needs to happen now.’ He urges Joshua to set aside any concerns about the risks involved in pitting his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles against Wilder, the big-punching WBC champion, saying: ‘I was stopped twice (by Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman) but that helped me proved my class, by coming back to win the rematches and by becoming world champion again.’ Lewis also warns Joshua of the possibility that Tyson Fury will steal his thunder. Fury is reported to be close to finalising talks for a November challenge to Wilder in America, which would be only the third fight of his comeback attempt to regain a world title and reassert his undefeated position as the lineal heavyweight champion.The perceived wisdom is that this might be too early for Fury, who has a second warm-up fight against Francesco Pianeta on Carl Frampton’s Windsor Park Belfast card next Saturday. But Lewis says: ‘While you might think it better for him to have another couple of fights first, Wilder would not find this easy. Fury’s height (6ft 9in), long reach, mobility and style make him very difficult to beat. Wladimir Klitschko discovered that. And the better the opponent, the better Tyson is going to look. Definitely. That’s why I call him the Boogy Man. He can be a nightmare for anyone.’Lewis, the most recent undisputed champion when he was ruling the heavyweight roost around the turn of the century, retired after beating Vitali Klitschko in 2003. Like the fight that never was against Bowe, a proposed Klitschko rematch never materialised. Meanwhile, he has a few last words for Joshua as he prepares to fight Alexander Povetkin rather than Wilder on September 22 and plans to follow that with another Wembley outing next April: ‘Be prepared to go abroad and fight in other people’s back yards, the way I did. Boxing is about fighting, not poli-tricks.’Anthony JoshuaPhoto Credit: Getty

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