Deontay Wilder believes Anthony Joshua doesn't naturally have what it takes to be a fighter, and was guided to his world title glory by Eddie Hearn.
Wilder and Joshua were never able to come to terms for a world heavyweight title fight when they held all the belts between them from 2017 to 2020. But it now seems that as humbled challengers, the two hard-hitting former champions could be able to square off with less pressure from governing bodies.
There is clearly bad blood between the two, particularly with Wilder, who has never been keen on Joshua's set-up, including his promoter Hearn. And he feels it's the Matchroom Boxing boss who engineered his rival's journey to the top, as opposed to Joshua's own fighting spirit.
Speaking on The Last Stand podcast, Wilder said: "They made him. As a businessman, I don't like him at all. I don't like how they conduct business. From the Olympics all the way to the pro rankings, they've made him and they know that. We're born to do this, not made up."
Hearn took over Joshua's career when he turned professional after the 2012 Olympic games, where he won gold at super-heavyweight on home soil. Meanwhile, Wilder competed at the previous Games and picked up bronze, although he had been boxing for just three years at that point.
However, an issue with Joshua and his team's business practices won't stop Wilder from taking a fight with his old rival. In fact, he believes the way to make it happen is an unconventional meeting, in which he and his manager Shelly Finkel will pass around a joint and come to terms.
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"I still want to whoop that a**. I'm not going to rob the fans of not making that fight happen. I definitely want that fight to happen. I just wanna know if they're for real. We're going to have to go to California and all just light one up and discuss it man. That's a good idea. You can see Shelly Finkel passing it to Eddie Hearn, Joshua passing it to me. That's so funny."
First, Joshua must see through his negotiations for a fight with Tyson Fury in December, while Wilder must focus on his October 15 comeback against Robert Helenius. The giant Finn will pose a similar style of problems with his imposing size that Fury did in their three meetings, but should be much slower and less powerful.
Meanwhile, Joshua has publicly accepted Fury's terms for a December 3 meeting at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. The pair now have to sort out a broadcast deal and get contracts inked in order to finally make the domestic super-fight fans have been waiting for since they both became heavyweight champions.
