Why is Wilder so scared of Whyte?

Deontay Wilder ‘wiped the floor’ with David Haye during sparring session despite Brit heavyweight ‘catching him clean’


Brit Richard Towers claims he watched the American world champ take on his countryman in a one-sided contest


DEONTAY WILDER destroyed David Haye in sparring as he prepared to fight Tyson Fury, claims retired British heavyweight Richard Towers.

WBC champ Wilder, 32, is chasing a unification bout with Anthony Joshua.

And Towers believes the American can cause huge problems for 28-year-old AJ after seeing him run rings around Haye, 37, in 2013.

The Sheffield puncher told Boxing News: “Me and Deontay are friends - we sparred in Sheffield, London, even my kitchen.

"We’re very close so we’d go easy. But I remember him just throwing a right hand and not meaning to put anything into it, the speed – until you get in there you don’t realise – and that’s the same for his power.

"His chin, I’ve hit him clean on the chin, and watched David Haye catch him clean on the gym - he wiped the floor with David.”

Towers believes Wilder is the most agile heavyweight out there - and hailed his incompatible power.

The 38-year-old added: "You can’t make one mistake with Deontay because he hits that hard - he’s more agile than any big man I’ve seen.

“He hit me with a right hand just above me temple – we had 20oz gloves on – and it wobbled me and I remember my left leg felt really heavy.

"For two weeks after that, I had a terrible pain, like somebody had a hot knife in the bottom of my foot and it were shooting up my leg."

Towers has also been behind the ropes with Joshua and claims the only time he got sent to the canvas is when he took his eye off the ball.

The 6ft 8ins Yorkshireman explained: “With Joshua, because I was quite elusive it was always even.

"I’d only sparred a few times in me life, and I went to throw a relaxed shot, and Joshua was uptight and tense, and he caught me with a check-hook on the temple.

"He put me down. I got back up and we did another few rounds. Joshua always got to four rounds and he’d be blowing, 'cause he was geared to fight four.

"After that I never took my eye off the ball and never got dropped again.

"He never hurt me, he was an accumulative puncher and I was off-balance. There were a few times I’d catch him and I’d numb him."

Joshua had his endurance pushed to the limits for the first time on Saturday and he passed the test with flying colours as he stripped Joseph Parker of his WBO title over 12 rounds.

The Brit harbours dreams of unifying the heavyweight division and after his latest success he called out WBC champion Wilder.

But Towers, who has been used as a sparring partner by the likes of Joshua, Wilder and former belt-holder Wladimir Klitschko, has lifted the lid on the differences between the boxers.

The 6ft 8in fighter has taken whacks off some of the best heavyweights in the division - and he has issued a worrying warning to his latest accomplice.

Towers has revealed that Joshua “hits nowhere near as hard” as Wilder, so any potential match-up, which is rumoured to happen in June, could be the ultimate test of the 28-year-old’s chin.

“Joshua is more an accumulation puncher,” Towers told the Derby Telegraph.

“He hits hard, I can tell you that from experience.

“But what I can also tell you from experience is he hits nowhere near as hard as Deontay Wilder.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Towers here he is getting knocked senseless by Mairis Briedis stoppage victim Simon Vallily whose current record is 13-1-0 (4KOs). Valliliy had Towers so out of it he was swaying like a Herman Munster who'd just downed a bucket full of neat vodka in 10 seconds.

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