By Tim Royner: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is saying the heavyweight unification fight between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker is “very close” to being finalized for March 31 in the UK. Arum sees the split being 66.6/33.3 rather than 70-30 split Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn are asking for.
Parker and his promoter David Higgins wants a 65-35 split. Arum’s split sounds fair. However, Arum is Parker’s co-promoter, so it’s not all that surprising that he’s asking for a deal that is a better one for him than the one that Hearn is interested in giving to him.
The Joshua-Parker fight will take place in the UK at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, according to Arum. This is the venue that Joshua fought in his last fight against his IBF mandatory challenger Carlos Takam on October 28. Joshua won the fight by a 10th round knockout.
“It seems to me with a little tugging and so forth, they can do 2/3 and 1/3 and that’s what I think is going to happen,” Arum said to the latimes.com.
Arum believes Joshua vs. Parker fight is very close to getting one, and he sees the fight getting made. Arum isn’t the type to speak about negotiations without having the info about the state of the negotiations. The deal that Arum is speaking about would seem like one that Parker and Higgins would agree to. It’s unclear whether Joshua and Hearn would accept the deal though, as the British promoter already says a 70-30 deal is a situation where Parker is being overpaid.
”Parker has a hell of a chance,” said Arum about him beating Joshua. “I give Parker a shot with Joshua. Joshua doesn’t have a chin, man,” Arum said. “Parker, you can hit him with a baseball bat and nothing happens.”
I wouldn’t say that Joshua doesn’t have a chin, but I don’t think he’s got the punch resistance that Parker has. It’s fair to say that Joshua doesn’t have the chin to keep him as a world champion long term in the division. Joshua is already on borrowed time as it is as the IBF/WBA heavyweight champion, as he should have been knocked out in the Wladimir Klitschko fight earlier this year on April 29.
Joshua would have been knocked out by Wladimir in that fight if he’d looked to finish Joshua off after he knocked him down in round 6. Wladimir backed off after knocking Joshua down, and he let him survive.