You Are Not a Nigerian – Wilder Tells Joshua

He won the fight, good on him.

He predicted Joshua’s next target, WBC champion Deontay Wilder whom he wants to fight to complete the set of belts, would beat the big Brit.

Watford’s world champion said: “2018 was always a time to capture all the belts”. We can’t change it, so we’ve just got to look forward. “Commercially, Joshua is far, far bigger than Deontay Wilder“, Hearn told BBC Radio 5Live Sunday. All these years, we’ve gone to the States, people have spent a lot of money following British boxers over there.

Hearn added: “I think a fight with Wilder has to happen in 2018”.

A fight with America’s Deontay Wilder, the WBC champion, could be in the works, the fight being the most in-demand right now.

A bout between Joshua and Wilder would deliver the first man to hold all four major heavyweight titles.

The unbeaten 28-year-old’s run of 20 knockouts was ended by Parker, who justified his reputation for toughness, but Joshua believes he displayed his superior boxing skills over 12 rounds.

It was a unanimous points win for Joshua after two judges gave the fight it to him by a margin of 118-110, with the third scoring it 119-109.

“Forget the hype, Parker is a world champ and I knew he was going to be determined. Get him in the ring and I knock him spark out”.

“AJ’s a wooden top – he ain’t no superstar, I am the man”, Fury said. “I have no doubt that these guys will fight again, sooner rather than later”.

“With the experience and contacts we’ve made in the last two or three months here, the fan base and brand awareness Joe and Duco have developed in the United Kingdom, there is every chance our next fight will be back here”.

Reflecting on his loss, Parker said: “We enjoyed being here”.

“We need to come back even stronger”.

Parker used his jab regularly in the opener, with Joshua controlling the centre of the ring and landing with hooks and body shots.

“Obviously when one guy’s got the 76-inch reach and the other guy’s got 84-85 it’s very important to us when we do close the distance that we’re able to work”, Barry said.

The referee is proving a nuisance with his interventions, one coming just as Joshua is unloading a flurry of punches. “I don’t think Joseph Parker did quite enough to win in [the UK]”. It is yet to be seen whether Joshua’s fellow Briton Tyson Fury will reemerge from a two-and-a-half year exile following his shock points win over Wladimir Klitschko for the three titles Joshua now holds.