WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has said that Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is trying to ‘milk’ the Olympic gold medalist.
Joshua suffered the first loss of his professional boxing career last weekend when Andy Ruiz Jr. knocked him out in the seventh round in New York.
Joshua and his camp exercised a rematch clause earlier this week with the second fight expected to take place before the end of the year.
Wilder, who has circled Joshua for the last few years, has said that he felt that Hearn is putting the former champion under too much pressure.
“Hearn has manipulated people from the get-go,” Wilder told TalkSport.
“Joshua will never talk for himself. Hearn has put so much pressure on him. He has sold a lot of emotional garbage.
“He put out a lot of things that weren’t true and it was a lot of pressure. So Joshua not only had to come out and say certain things and back his words up but he also had to back his promoter’s words up as well and I don’t think that was fair for him.
“I told Hearn ‘you are milking him’ and everything I said has come true to this point.
“It [Joshua’s defeat] was 100 per cent mental. So much pressure was on him. Fans want to see me and him fight and that is a big thing. My last fight I delivered what I always deliver – a devastating knockout – and that was a lot of pressure.
“I heard he got knocked out in sparring and his his dad didn’t want him to fight but Hearns being Hearns are greedy. They got to keep the generational wealth for their family and there was a lot at stake.”
Rumours circulated after the fight that Joshua had suffered a panic attack before the bout but the Brit denied that there were any issues in the immediate lead up to the fight.
“There was no contaminated food. I know there’s a lot of accusations or worries about what was wrong with me,” the British heavyweight said in a video released on his YouTube channel.
“I warmed up really well. I had no panic attack – I’m not that type of person, you know me. I have to take my loss like a man. No blaming anyone, no blaming anything. I’m the one who went in there to perform and my performance didn’t go to plan.”
