By Tim Royner: The negotiations between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker are moving in a better direction according to Parker’s promoter David Higgins. He says Joshua’s side is now willing to move on the purse split in the negotiations for a unification fight between the two champions.
IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) wants a shot at winning Parker’s WBO belt. The negotiations between the sides got off to a bad start with Higgins and Parker stating that the original offer given to them by Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn as being too low. Parker took to social media this week to reveal that the offer made to him was less than half of the money that former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin received for his fight with Joshua 2 years ago.
“First of all, I think their camp has signaled they’re willing to talk and might [agree] to a better deal – so that’s positive,” Higgins said Kick Off via talksport.co.uk. “Secondly, on whether they’re trying to keep Parker at bay – that’s possible – we think Parker beats Joshua.”
Higgins wants 60-40 deal for the Joshua fight. He might be willing to accept less than that, but likely not too much lower. It has to be worthwhile for Parker to take the huge risk of facing Joshua, especially with the fight likely to take place in the UK. It’s not going to be easy for Parker to go into Joshua’s backyard to fight him in front of what will likely be a monstrous crowd filled with pro-Joshua boxing fans.
Parker has dominated his opposition recent, beating Hughie Fury, Razvan Cojanu and Andy Ruiz Jr. In his last fight, Parker traveled to the UK to defend his WBO heavyweight title against Hughie in Manchester, England. Hughie did little more than spoil for 12 rounds, but Parker did a good job of chasing him down and winning a 12 round majority decision. One of the judges surprisingly had it a draw at 114-114. Hopefully, Parker gets better judging than that when/if he faces Joshua in the UK.
“We don’t think it’s an easy fight – it’s nearly 50/50 – but we think Parker wins simply because he has a better chin,” said Higgins. “Eddie can fast forward negotiations by going straight to the fair deal now and then we might see the fight happen in the first or second quarter of next year. But if they want to dig their heels in then we’ll wait until it’s a fair deal,” said Higgins.
It might be in Parker’s best interest to wait if they can’t get the percentage split that they want from Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn. They might be more willing to negotiate after they fight someone else like Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller. If Parker doesn’t face Joshua in the first quarter of 2018, it’s quite possible that Hearn will use the 29-year-old Miller as his alternate.
Hearn appears to prefer the Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder fight to take place in the summer of 2018 rather than at the start of the year. One reason for that is the weather will be better, and the fight can be staged in a large outdoor stadium in the UK. Hearn recently signed the American Miller to his Matchroom Sport stable, and he’s someone that is being groomed for a fight with Joshua.