By Marcus Richardson: Anthony Joshua says WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) is being realistic in their negotiations for a fight in early 2018, more realistic than Deontay Wilder, the WBC belt holder, who wants an even split of the revenue for a fight with Joshua at 50-50, and that’s a non-starter for AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn. They feel that Wilder isn’t worth the 50-50 split.
One of the two will need to back down for the fight to get made. If the doesn’t get made, Joshua will need to be content with holding 3 of the 4 heavyweight titles, if he gets past Parker in the first half of 2018. The boxing public has a great deal of interest in seeing Joshua and Wilder fight in 2018.
Joshua-Parker is a less intriguing fight due to Parker’s lackluster performances against Hughie Fury, Razvan Cojanu, Andy Ruiz Jr. and Carlos Takam. Parker won all 4 of those fights, but he didn’t impress in the least.
”We have to get our hands on another championship belt,” said Joshua via Fight News. ”Joseph Parker is being very realistic in terms of when he’s going to fight and negotiations. That’s a fight that potentially could happen sometime in March or April,” said Joshua.
Parker recently stated that he wants a 65-35 split of the revenue for the Joshua fight. Hearn was looking more about 70-30. With Joshua saying that Parker is being realistic, it suggests that he’s backed off his request for a 65-35 split, and is willing to accept a figure closer to the 70-30 split that Hearn is asking for. Parker’s promoter David Higgins says they’ve given ground twice in the negotiations with Joshua. They started with a 50-50 offer, and then they went to 60-40 and finally 65-35. If Hearn can get Parker to agree to a 67-32 split, it would be a major victory for him and Joshua. A mandatory challenger gets 25 percent. Parker getting only 32 percent as the WBO heavyweight champion isn’t much of a bump up from a challenger status.
Wilder, 32, isn’t the type to be shamed into taking a smaller split of the revenue for a Joshua fight or any fight for that matter. That’s not how Wilder works. Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn will need to try another tactic if they want Wilder to agree to take a smaller cut of the revenue. It might require Joshua moving on and beating some of the other top heavyweights in the division like Alexander Povetkin, Tyson Fury and Jarrell Miller. If Joshua can beat those 3 heavyweights in addition to Parker, he’ll be in a good position to get Wilder to agree to less than a 50-50 deal. Apart from that, it’s not realistic to assume that Wilder will break from his stance of wanting half of the revenue for the Joshua fight.
“Why do you say Parker first?” Joshua said. “I don’t like to give false promises, but I agree. Parker is remotely realistic in negotiations.”
Wilder is a popular heavyweight. If the match with Joshua never takes place, he’ll hold onto his World Boxing Council title for some time. There’s talk that Wilder will face 38-year-old Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz on March 3 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. That’s a risky fight for Wilder. But if he wins it, he’ll increase his popularity a lot more than Joshua will in beating Parker. That could help Wilder get the 50-50 deal that he’s asking for against Joshua.
Speaking of Parker in the negotiations, Hearn said “Because he is the one who is remotely realistic.”