Eddie Hearn has slammed Deontay Wilder for 'bringing up Anthony Joshua's name again' as he reignites his hopes for a mega unification match.
The WBC champ, 33, has plans for a rematch with Luis Ortiz before the end of 2019, along with eyeing up a second bout with Tyson Fury in early 2020.
But Wilder stunned boxing fans when he called for Fury to step aside if a clear path to a unification match opened up.
Joshua's promoter told talkSPORT he isn't surprised that the 33-year-old American has re-entered the picture during the promotion for 'AJ' and Andy Ruiz Jr's rematch.
"What a surprise on the global tour of Joshua vs Ruiz, Deontay Wilder is coming out talking about Anthony Joshua," the Matchroom boss said.
"Before the Ruiz fight, at the end of May, Deontay Wilder comes out and says, 'I'm announcing my next fight, it's Luis Ortiz.'
"We're now in September, he still hasn't announced that date, he still hasn't announced that venue.
"So this is him, again, just using Joshua's name."
Wilder and Joshua were widely tipped to have a unification match in 2019, but the blockbuster bout never materialised amid disagreements from both boxer's camps.
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And Wilder has openly admitted that he would be ready to
step in the ring with Joshua or Ruiz if it meant that unification of the
heavyweight division could happen.
Hearn refused to engage the idea of the 'Bronze Bomber' clashing with 'AJ,' saying that they can't "really talk about Wilder at the moment because we've got business to take care of."
He continued: "I don't wanna talk about Wilder because all the focus for Joshua for the last two years has been, 'When's he fighting Wilder?'
"Going into the Ruiz fight, all the questions were, 'When are you fighting Deontay Wilder?'
"So, in a way, he overlooked Ruiz because all he was thinking about was the Wilder fight.
"Now, the only fight that matters is the Ruiz rematch. The only fight. Because without the victory, we can't talk about Deontay Wilder.
"So he now comes back in because he wants the media to all ask questions this week about Deontay Wilder, it's actually quite clever.
"But AJ's response will be, 'For once in my career of the last 18 months, the only thing I'm worried about is getting my belts back and I have to beat Andy Ruiz.'"
KO artist Wilder brutally responded to Joshua after the superstar Brit accused Wilder and Fury of 'freezing him out' of the heavyweight division.
And the WBC kingpin also admitted that he had lost all respect for the 29-year-old 'AJ' after he showed private messages he had sent to him to his promoter.
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Featured Image Credit: PATopics: AJ, Tyson Fury, Bronze Bomber, Boxing News, Andy Ruiz Jr, Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Gypsy King, Eddie Hearn, Deontay Wilder