By Jeff Aranow: Deontay Wilder will need to be “realistic” with his purse requests if he wants to get the unification fight against Anthony Joshua. He says he wants to fight Wilder for his WBC title next year, as long as he keeps his word to face him.
Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) isn’t saying what would be a realistic percentage cut of the revenue for the Wilder fight. Wilder has already made it known that he wants a 50-50 deal. Joshua’s promote Eddie Hearn has already laughed off that request. He’s not taking Wilder seriously about wanting an even split because he’s not going to give it to him.
We’ve heard a lot of crazy splits offered up from the boxing public for what Wilder should get for the Joshua fight. Some think 70-30 or 75-35 will do the trick to get Hearn and Joshua to agree to the fight, but Wilder seems to have other ideas. He’s asking for a 50-50 split and sounding serious about wanting that amount.
”Providing Deontay Wilder is true to his word this fight will happen in 2018,” said Joshua to Dubai Eye 103.8. “It is simple business. We have worked with all-time greats like [Wladimir] Klitschko. We have managed to defend this title five times. If they are realistic about what they want, we can definitely make this fight happen,” said Joshua.
Joshua can’t play hardball with Wilder and expect him to cower, and just give him the lion’s share of the money. That’s not Wilder’s style. He’s going to want to get what he feels he’s worth and not a penny less. If Joshua wants to get his hands on Wilder’s World Boxing Council heavyweight title, he’s probably going to need to give him close to his asking price for the fight.
Joshua defended his IBF/WBA heavyweight titles successfully against replacement opponent Carlos Takam last month on October 28 in Cardiff, Wales. Joshua stopped Takam in round 10 when the referee stepped in at first sign of trouble. This fight was a lot easier one for Joshua than his previous contest against Wladimir Klitschko on April 29. Joshua was knocked down in that fight by Wladimir in round 6, and he came close to being stopped.
Wilder looked good in stopping his WBC mandatory challenger Bermane Stiverne in the 1st round this month at the Barclays Center in New York.
“Yeah, why not?” in response to the question of whether he’s interested in fighting Wilder in 2018. “I’ve always handled my business with negotiations behind closed doors. When things are done, I’ll announce them. I am not in the business of making promises that I can’t fulfill. I am working on getting this fight done.”
The winner of the Joshua vs. Wilder fight will be seen by the boxing fans as the No.1 heavyweight in the division. There’s still WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker that will need to be dealt with, but Joshua is trying to fight him next. His promoter Eddie Hearn isn’t having a lot of luck in negotiating the fight with Parker’s promoter David Higgins, but he appears to be willing to take less than the 60-40 cut of the revenue that he originally asked for at the start of the negotiations. It’s still unclear whether that fight will get made or not. Hearn needs to have realistic expectations for what Parker and Higgins are willing to accept for the fight. They’re not going to agree to take less money than what Charles Martin received for his fight with Joshua in 2015.
Tyson Fury is expected to be the last big fight of 2018 for Joshua. That too will be a hard match to negotiate, as Fury is a big star in the UK and he’s going to want at least a 50-50 deal. If Joshua and Hearn try and hog the money for that fight, they’ll end up losing the match. Fury can make good money fighting anyone in the heavyweight division. He doesn’t need Joshua for him to make a lot of money.