Deontay Wilder: Joshua-Breazeale is a 50-50 fight
Deontay Wilder says that Anthony Joshua’s IBF heavyweight title defense against Dominic Breazeale, which takes place in London, England, on Saturday, is a 50-50 fight.
Wilder will be part of the Showtime team covering the bout from New York City and the WBC titleholder insists that he cannot split the pair, as Joshua seeks to defend the belt he won in April with a devastating second-round knockout over Charles Martin.
“I definitely see the fight as 50-50,” said Wilder who is rated No 2 by THE RING at heavyweight.
“It’s going to be interesting because we’ve seen Breazeale in a lot of wars. He’s almost been taken out by some of the smaller heavyweights; he’s been punched around, but has always survived. I think that it’ll be a good fight because of Breazeale – I think he really wants it.”
The news that Wilder views this fight as competitive will be a surprise to fight fans, but it will be an even bigger surprise to oddsmakers. Breazeale is 10-1 against in a two-horse race, however the man known as “Bomb Squad” is sticking to his guns.
Wilder said, “For Joshua, this is his first title defense, so he should feel some kind of security and confidence about himself. But he’s going to find out that to continue his career and defend that title, these guys aren’t going to lay down after one or two punches.
“They’re going to keep taking punches, they’re going to keep getting knocked down and they’re going to keep getting up. This is for a world title. This can bring you out of poverty. For that reason, these challengers are hungry. That’s one of the things that I had to realize.”
Joshua is perceived to be superior to Breazeale in terms of skill, power and technique but he will also have home court advantage at the O2 Arena.
“It takes a lot of courage, will and heart to fight in someone’s backyard,” said Wilder, who defends his title for the fourth time against Chris Arreola on July 16. “It takes someone that has confidence in themselves. And not to mention going to someone else’s country, because then the environment has completely changed.”
Joshua’s clash with Breazeale is the main event at The O2, with George Groves and Martin Murray meeting in an eliminator for the WBA super middleweight title as chief support.
Also on the card, Chris Eubank Jr. defends his British middleweight title against Welshman Tom Doran, John Wayne Hibbert clashes with Andrea Scarpa at lightweight, Dillian Whyte returns to the fray, unbeaten stars Kal Yafai and Anthony Ogogo are in action, Conor Benn fights for the third time in the paid ranks and there’s a debut for Team GB star Felix Cash.
Quotes provided courtesy of a press release issued by Matchroom Boxing
Tom Gray is a member of the British Boxing Writers’ Association and has contributed to various publications. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing