Anthony Joshua wants Deontay Wilder to knock Dominic Breazeale out in the ninth round but is confident that the Bronze Bomber will be in for a tough fight.

Joshua knows this because he too was involved in a rough fight with Breazeale. It took him until the seventh round to knock out the American in 2016 which was the second longest fight of his career by that point. Only his dramatic fight with Dillian Whyte lasted 26 seconds longer.

Joshua is currently in the midst of a tough training camp in Miami as he tries to adapt to the late change in personnel for his fight with Andy Ruiz Jr in Madison Square Garden, New York on June 1.

Despite this, the British unified champion will be keeping a very close eye on the whereabouts of the WBC belt; the title currently held by Wilder is the last honour Joshua needs to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

When asked if he will be watching the fight, Joshua told Sky Sports: "Yeah, yeah 100 per cent.”
Then, he made his prediction of what might be to come in the fight between his former and maybe future opponent.

"Styles make fights, I think Wilder will fare well against Breazeale. I think Wilder is too quick, he's a very, very fast heavyweight, but Breazeale is tough, took me seven rounds.

"I hope Wilder does it in nine, so I can be like 'hey I done it earlier'. You know how it is, comparisons and stuff, but yeah it will be interesting to see.

"You look at the small things, I look at the small details - when he's getting tired, how many right hands he throws in a round. I look at something different, rather than comparisons to the rounds."

It was though, a left-handed shot that ended the previous fight between Joshua and Breazeale in a match where the Californian showed incredible resistance and toughness.

Joshua again alluded to this character and commended Breazeale as a fighter.

He said: "He got hurt in the second round, stumbled, stayed on his feet. Come game, it's a world championship fight, that's what I'm saying.

"Breazeale at the time, he may not have been Wladimir Klitschko, but he came and put up a fight."

The highly anticipated all-American showdown between Wilder and Breazeale for the WBC belt takes place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in the early hours of Sunday morning May 19.