‘Pressure’ and ‘misery’ - Deontay Wilder thinks Anthony Joshua has 'something weighing on his heart’

Deontay Wilder believes there is “a lot of pressure” on Anthony Joshua and that the Briton seems to have “something weighing on his heart heavy" ahead of the 'Day of Reckoning'.

Wilder fights on Saturday against another former world champion, Joseph Parker, while Joshua takes on Otto Wallin.

The heavyweight foursome form the co-main events at the Day of Reckoning event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, live on TNT Sports Box Office.

If Joshua and Wilder win their respective fights then there is - finally - a clear path for the pair to end their long-running rivalry with a meeting next year.

Wilder last fought in October 2022 having dispatched Robert Helenius within the first round, and is working with Malik Scott to rebuild after losing his trilogy rematch series with WBC champion Tyson Fury.

Speaking to TNT Sports, he was quizzed over potential "ring rust", with many fighters - particularly during and soon after the coronavirus pandemic - suffering defeats due to inactivity.

But Wilder denied that he will be under-prepared, saying: “We all have powers that we possess in this world. And if you don't use it, God will strip it away from you and give it to the next brave soul who will have no problem showing their abilities and talents to the world.

“People say ring rust and all that because that's just the proper thing to say, but they're just on the outside looking in. They don’t understand the lifestyle, they don’t understand what I’ve been through in life.

“They don’t know if I’ve been training or not, they only see me ring rust outside of the ring, they haven’t seen my presence in an actual boxing ring as far as competition-wise. But we've been in the gym, we've been working. I’m blessed, I’m highly blessed. They said the same thing in my last fight, you know. You've seen the outcome with that.”

Turning to Joshua, he expressed his concern not just for the Briton, but the situation many fighters find himself in.

He explained: “I see a lot of pressure on him. I see real pressure on him, a lot of frustration. I want to say misery, there’s something weighing on his heart heavy.

“Sometimes as human beings we can lay a lot on a person. How many times, everybody look at him as 'he’s my money-maker for my company' and stuff like that, but how many times those guys say, ‘How you doing today? How you feeling today? Are you alright? I love you.’

“Human beings will use you up, like a cow. They milk you until you don't have no more.

“How many of our greats do we see today, that were amazing fighters, that have done a lot of things for the culture and the business of boxing, and now they look like they don’t have nothing to their name. All they have is the memory of what they used to be like.”

'Day of Reckoning' costs £19.99 in the UK and can be watched through DAZN or TNT Sports Box Office and is available via the DAZN app on Smart TVs, streaming sticks, tablets, laptops and game consoles, Virgin Media TV, Sky and EE TV.

You do not need to be a subscriber to buy this event and more information on all the ways you can watch can be found at www.dayofreckoning.co.uk.

DAZN customers can purchase the fight on www.DAZN.com or via the DAZN app, accessed on their Smart TVs, streaming sticks, laptop, tablets, mobiles and games consoles.

Sky customers can purchase on channel 494 via their remote control or via https://www.sky.com/boxoffice/tnt-sports.

Virgin Media TV customers in the UK: customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV 360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View Events rail.

EE TV customers can go to channel 495 and pay using their remote control.

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