At last, Wilder opens up when he ‘ll face Anthony Joshua

Deontay Wilder has hinted Anthony Joshua will have to get in line behind Tyson Fury .

Wilder announced on Tuesday night that his next fight will be a rematch with Luis Ortiz later this year.

That deals a hammer blow to Joshua’s hopes of becoming the undisputed world champion in 2019.

It also means a rematch between Wilder and Fury will have to wait until 2020.

But the American suggested that he wants to erase the doubt which surrounds his controversial draw with Fury last December.

The Brit was dropped twice in Los Angeles but still appeared to have done enough to be given the nod by the judges.

But instead the fight was scored a draw – and Wilder clung on to his world title.

Negotiations for a rematch broke down when Fury signed a multi-fight deal with US broadcaster ESPN with Tom Schwarz his first opponent on June 15.

Wilder said: “To all my fans, I want to announce that Luis Ortiz and I have signed for a rematch, with the date and site to be announced shortly. All my controversial fights must get dealt with ASAP.”

That suggests he wants to face Fury before turning his attention to Joshua.

The latter takes on Andy Ruiz Jr in his US debut on Saturday night as he defends his three heavyweight world titles.

He had wanted face-to-face talks with Wilder afterwards, but that looks unlikely.

After his first-round knockout of Dominic Breazeale two weeks ago, Wilder had said: “[The Joshua fight] will happen, I’m going to cut to the chase. The heavyweight division is lit right now and it’s our obligation to make it happen.

“The next time it comes around to discussing it, I think the deal will get done.

“People have to have patience but it will happen, I promise you that.”

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