Deontay Wilder has thrown his backing behind Wladimir Klitschko ahead of the Ukrainian's heavyweight title fight against Anthony Joshua this April.
The 40-year-old is aiming to win back some of the heavyweight title belts he lost against Tyson Fury in 2015 and comes up against IBF champion Joshua in front of what is expected to be a record-equaling Wembley crowd.
Also up for grabs is the vacant WBA 'super' title and WBC champion Wilder says that the experience of Klitschko in the ring might be too much for the Watford native.
"I don't think Joshua has had the well enough training or experience for Klitschko in my opinion," he told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"My heart is for Joshua but my mind is always for Klitschko... I'm not saying that Joshua would lose off that, but when you're fighting a certain type of calibre of fighters and then you move all the way up to the guy who at one point in time was the ruler of the division and held the belts for a long time, it's a big leap."
Deontay Wilder throws a left at Chris Arreola during the WBC heavyweight title boxing bout last July. Wilder stopped Arreola in the 8th round. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
He added: "When a fighter discovers certain weaknesses in a fight, he himself has to execute those loopholes, but if you can't do it, it's something that's just there. We all have different little holes in our game, we're going to see if Joshua can execute the things that he needs to do in Klitschko's territory."
Wilder looks set to face the winner of the fight, which could set up another unification bout for later this year.
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