Sports

Wilder: Joshua fooling himself by saying Fury is biggest threat

March 02, 2018 11:23·
A match-up with Ortiz was cancelled after the Cuban tested positive for banned substances

A match-up with Ortiz was cancelled after the Cuban tested positive for banned substances

However, in the eyes of many the threat of Wilder's power erases some of Joshua's advantages, making the fight more intriguing and the most anticipated heavyweight confrontation since Lennox Lewis fought Mike Tyson in June of 2002.

Wilder and Ortiz were first scheduled to fight in November, but Ortiz was forced to withdraw after failing a drug test. Ortiz was later fined $25,000 for the offense, but not suspended or removed from title contention after successfully arguing he was using the banned substance to treat high blood pressure.

Along with England's Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs), who is set to unify his pair of titles with WBO champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) on March 31 in Wales, Wilder is one half of the face of the new heavyweight era.

The WBC wouldn't allow Wilder to fight Ortiz because Ortiz tested positive for two diuretics - chlorothiazide and hydrochlorothiazide - in a test administered by VADA as part of the WBC's "Clean Boxing Program". They could make a compelling case for praising Wilder's willingness to legitimately test himself because Ortiz - his age and comparative inactivity notwithstanding - possesses a combination of experience, intelligence, skill and power Wilder hasn't encountered.

Call me a cynic but I don't believe Team Wilder would have agreed to fight Ortiz with so much money on the table if they can deliver Wilder to AJ undefeated.

"He can't win", promoter Lou DiBella told BoxingScene.com regarding Wilder before a press conference Thursday in Manhattan.

"Everybody wants to feed their family; I understand but how can you say you a man when you take PEDs?" "He is Luis Ortiz, who is 6'4" tall and has an 84" reach. It's going to be up to him to prove me wrong. "I'm self-made, and I'm ready to show the world who I am". Deontay went in the opposite direction. It makes me reevaluate my career.

Ortiz has a daughter, Lis, who left Cuba with her father when she was 4 years old.

With the biggest opportunity of Ortiz's boxing career just days away, the comparatively quiet Cuban contender can not wait to silence Wilder the best way he knows how. It was not the 1 time that Ortiz failed a drug test.

Despite confident claims from the larger than life Wilder this week that he is the most unsafe man in the division and Joshua has been putting off a meeting between the two, it appears that is not the way the big Brit sees it. Or has it been Wilder that dodged the other champions?

But Hearn again made it clear that Wilder's ongoing demands for an even slice of the profits from a fight with Joshua wouldn't eventuate. The "Bronze Bomber" said: "We're ready on this side of the pond".

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"You don't have to worry about him anymore". I dream every night of this fight and the result is always the same "I knockout" Ortiz. I'm not like those other guys he fought. We ain't waiting, we're still doing what we do, but make the fight already.

"He dealing with a guy that ain't afraid of not one human being on Earth, especially when you get in that jungle and I am the king of the jungle". They won't be all that impressed even if Wilder obliterates Ortiz. And that can only be realized by Joshua fighting and beating Wilder; not Ortiz.

This is going to be more of a brawl than a technical match.

Inactivity could hurt Ortiz, too.

Then, of course, there's Ortiz's age.

But the 32-year-old American took aim at Hearn after months of unsuccessful negotiations.

Like many Cuban athletes, though, there's doubt about the birth date Ortiz lists. You can listen to his podcast, "The Fight Junkies" here .

Wilder claims he doesn't care what the cynics think. I've had to fight all of my life because people said I wouldn't amount to anything. When he signed to meet Ortiz previous year I predicted the bout wouldn't be realized and it wasn't, and now all of a sudden it's a go? It's not up to nobody but myself. The only problem I have is not being able to determine in which round I will score the knockout in those 12 rounds.

"Each and every time I've gotten on this podium, each and every time I've got in the ring, under the big lights, under the big cameras, I've presented beauty to the ring". I'm here to win the heavyweight championship of the world.

It'll all depend on whether you ask a supporter or a detractor of one of the most polarizing people in boxing.

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