Former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew is not convinced that Anthony Joshua is ready for the danger involved in a showdown with Deontay Wilder.

Joshua has been in action twice in 2023. He returned to the ring in April and picked up a twelve round unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin. Joshua was back again July, when he secured a dramatic knockout of veteran Robert Helenius. Those victories helped Joshua resumed his footing after suffering back to back defeats to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Wilder has been out of the ring since October of 2022, when he blew away Helenius in a single round. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak at the hands of WBC world champion Tyson Fury.

There are now ongoing discussions to see Joshua face Wilder on a date in January in Saudi Arabia.

Joshua was trained for his last two bouts by veteran coach Derrick James.

Under James' tutelage, Joshua has continued to box in a tentative nature - which Bellew believes would backfire against someone with the punching power of Wilder.

“Deontay Wilder has got mind numbing power but so has Anthony Joshua, when he throws it. If you force him {Joshua} to throw, which Helenius didn't do, then it’s a different ball game. I think gun-shy is a little bit unfair, tentative is how I’d describe AJ’s performance {against Helenius},” Bellew said to .

“In my view I would just like Josh to get back to what he does best, which is to get on his chest and just throw punches. What happens to fighters is when we lose or get stopped it makes us vulnerable and wary. Sometimes we overthink things and I think that’s the phase he’s going through. He knows that he’s vulnerable and wary.”