*Insists the Briton does not have the confidence to fight him
Britain’s Anthony Joshua is a “cash cow” being ‘milked’ by his promoter Eddie Hearn, fellow world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder alleged yesterday.
WBC champion Wilder, 32, thinks Joshua – who has the IBF and WBA belts – does not have the “confidence” to fight him.
The American, who fights Luis Ortiz on Saturday, told the BBC: “I don’t believe Hearn wants this fight at all.”
Hearn responded: “It’s the biggest fight in world boxing… and I always make the biggest fights possible.”
Wilder will put his WBC belt on the line against Ortiz in New York, before Joshua meets WBO champion Joseph Parker in a unification bout on 31 March.
“We’re ready on this side of the pond,” said Wilder.
“Joshua is like a cow, Eddie Hearn is milking him for every dollar. There have been no negotiations at all, no deal has been offered. But the world wants to see me and Joshua get in the ring.”
Hearn, also speaking to the BBC, said: “Deontay Wilder has tried to sell his whole fight on Anthony Joshua – he should worry about Luis Ortiz.
“Anthony will fight anyone and, as we have stated a thousand times, he wants to be the undisputed champion.
“If he beats Joseph Parker then he just needs one more belt. Wilder doesn’t have a promoter so is on a one-man salesman mission – get your head on Ortiz, let us deal with Parker then join us back in the real world and this fight will get made very quickly.”
Joshua, 28, will meet New Zealander Parker in Cardiff, with the winner then likely to face the undefeated Wilder.
No boxer has held all four heavyweight belts simultaneously.
In November, Joshua insisted he was not “ducking” any fighter, adding he would fight Wilder on “my terms”.
“I don’t think Joshua has enough confidence in himself to fight me,” said Wilder. “It’s all on them. If he really wants it, he can make it happen.
“I see the Parker v Joshua fight going into the later rounds. I like Parker’s movement.
“With Joshua’s big frame and being muscular, that’s OK to look the part but can he get out of the way of Parker’s punches and maintain his stamina holding all that?”
