By Scott Gilfoid: Promoter Richard Schafer states that the money split for the heavyweight unification clash between IBF/WBA champion Anthony Joshua and WBC champion Deontay Wilder should be an even 50-50 affair for their proposed fight in the summer of 2018.
Schaefer sees the Joshua-Wilder fight as the biggest fight in boxing right now, and he feels it’s got to get made.
Schaefer notes that Joshua’s management thinks that it’s not fair to give Wilder a 50-50 fight split of the money for the fight. However, Schaefer remarks that the cost of pay-per-view in the UK is one-fourth the cost of PPV in the U.S. As such, it only takes 300,000 buys in the U.S to equal the amount of revenue generated from 1 buys in the UK. So, when you hear Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn making a big production about the PPV buys AJ’s fights generate in the UK, you’re not getting a clear picture of what that comes out to compared to U.S PPV sales. The lower cost of UK PPV makes it more affordable to the average boxing fan in that country, but the fights don’t makes as much as some people think they do.
“It’s one of the biggest fights in the sport today,” said RingStar promoter Richard Schaefer to Fighthype in talking about the Joshua vs. Wilder fight. “I think the biggest fight is Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder. I think they’re talking about the split. The Joshua camp feels the 50-50 split is unfair. I disagree. I think it’s fair,” said Schaefer.
So there it is. Schaefer believes the 50-50 money split for the Joshua-Wilder fight is more than fair. Someone is going to need to let Schaefer talk to Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, because he’s already on record to be totally against giving Wilder a 50-50 split of the loot for the fight. Hearn doesn’t think Wilder deserves a 50-50 deal, and he’s said the fight will never happen as long as the Bronze Bomber’s promoters ask for that split. Perhaps that’s a good thing though. If Joshua faces Wilder and gets knocked out, then he might see a plunge in the PPV revenue his future fights make. Right now, all of Joshua’s fights are being sold on PPV, even the mismatches against over-matched opposition. That might change if Joshua gets blasted out by Wilder. I think it would need to change. How do ask the average boxing fan to pay to see a fighter that was just exposed?
”I think the fight should take place in the United States,” said Schaefer. ”The pay-per-view price in the UK is one-third or one-fourth of the pay-per-view price in the United States. So, if you do 1 million homes in the UK, you only need 300,000 homes here and you generate even money. That’s why I believe the fight should be a 50-50 split. Just get it done,” said Schaefer.
I totally agree with Schaefer with everything he says. Schaefer brings up a lot of logical points. He should be one of the negotiators for Wilder. Schaefer is so logical in what he says. I think he would do a good job of convincing Hearn to make him see the light after he breaks it down to him cent by cent.
