ANTHONY JOSHUA has dismissed Deontay Wilder as ‘not an elite level fighter’.
And the British heavyweight champion has also warned the American to ‘watch what he’s saying’.
Wilder, 35, is set to face Tyson Fury for a third time next month.
But if that wasn’t enough, he has already stoked the flames with potential future opponent Joshua.
The Bronze Bomber, comprehensively beaten by Fury last February, accused AJ and his team of ‘already making excuses’ not to fight him.
But Joshua, 31, is having none of it.
The Watford puncher told Sky Sports: “I’m an elite level fighter, not one of the tomato cans he’s knocked out.
“He better watch what he’s saying because when the day comes for me and him, I know what I’m capable of doing.
“He ain’t an elite level fighter.”
Wilder had previously told Premier Boxing Champions: “[Joshua] said: ‘It’s not about the man, it’s about the person with the belt’.
“We are going to hold them to their word. My focus is definitely on Fury, but after that fight?
“I’m very confident in what I am going to do. I’m strongly confident in what I’m about to do.
“How the hell will they beat a full, healthy Deontay Wilder?
“Once I get through Fury, once I do that? You already know what I want.
“But, as I’m hearing, [Joshua and his team] are already making up excuses – mandatories!
“I want them to keep that same energy because they tried to make the Fury fight.”
Joshua is expected to fight Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September.
But Andy Ruiz Jr is on standby, with a potential trilogy bout in the offing.
