Anthony Joshua’s plan was this: He was going to successfully defend his IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles against Andy Ruiz Jr. on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden and then meet with Deontay Wilder soon after to discuss a mega-fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
While the first part of that plan can still happen, the second part won’t after Wilder announced this week he’ll defend his WBC heavyweight belt in a rematch with Luis Ortiz later this year. It guarantees Joshua and Wilder won’t face each other in 2019. But Joshua sees a silver lining.
“I think Ortiz would be quicker to fight me than Wilder will,” Joshua said on Thursday before the final press conference ahead of Saturday’s bout. “Even if I fought Ortiz it could be the ‘Fight of the Century’ because it’s undisputed. It’s not so much about Wilder. It’s that undisputed. It could be Ruiz and Ortiz fighting and it still would be a massive fight for the undisputed [title].”
Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) stopped Ortiz (31-1, 26 KOs) in the 10th round of a WBC title defense in March 2018 at Barclays Center. The announcement of their rematch has taken even more thunder out of Joshua’s American debut at the Garden on Saturday.
A superstar in the United Kingdom, Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) was originally scheduled to face Brooklyn’s Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, who subsequently tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was pulled from the bout.
Ruiz (32-1, 21 KOs), of Imperial Valley, Calif., accepted the late call. He is a credible heavyweight, having lost to then-WBO champion Joseph Parker in 2016. But Joshua-Miller would have been a much bigger fight.
It’s still a huge event for Joshua and DAZN, the live-streaming service that will offer the Matchroom Boxing promotion through its app. The card also features Katie Taylor of Ireland fighting for the women’s undisputed lightweight title against Delfine Persoon and Callum Smith of the UK defending his super middleweight belt against Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam. Former junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri of Long Island is also on the card.
Joshua didn’t seem overly surprised Wilder wouldn’t wait until Saturday’s outcome before deciding to face Ortiz, but wonders what the reaction would be if he had been first to announce a rematch with, say, Alexander Povetkin.
“If it was me, how would the public have dealt with me?” Joshua said. “But these guys, they’re five and six years ahead of me in terms of years on their profile. So I’m learning from these guys and their decisions. So if I do a rematch with Povetkin next, I don’t want to hear anybody complaining.”
Joshua stopped Povetkin in seven rounds last September, but there’s no current talk of a rematch. With Wilder out of the discussion, Joshua’s options are wide open. But first he must defeat Ruiz and retain three of the four major belts.
Clearly, his goal is to be become the undisputed champion, whether that means beating Wilder or anyone else.
“It’s impossible for Wilder to stay champion for the rest of his time,” Joshua said. “He’s had tough fights [Eric] Molina, [Tyson] Fury and with Ortiz. He’s had close fights with certain people. It’s coming close to a time when that belt should change hands. So it’s not so much about Wilder. It’s more about what I can achieve by winning the undisputed.”
