Parker says to Joshua: 65 percent and rematch not enough to unify?

By Boxing News - 12/07/2017 - Comments

Image: Parker says to Joshua: 65 percent and rematch not enough to unify?

By Marcus Richardson: WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker is looking to shame IBF/WBA champion Anthony Joshua into agreeing to his 35-65 offer for a unification fight in early 2018. Parker wants 35 percent of the money for a fight with AJ, but thus far he’s had no luck in getting him and his promoter Eddie Hearn to agree to it.

They want a better deal for them than the 35 percent Parker is asking for. Parker and his promoter David Higgins see it as greed on Joshua and Hearn’s part in fighting over small percentages.

“@anthonyfjoshua 65% and rematch not enough to unify? Believe your own hype? Bubble’s gonna burst bro. #BigGlassRobot #NeverBeenDropped,” said Parker on his Twitter.

Hearn recently said this week the two sides are close to getting the Joshua-Parker fight done. Indeed, they are close. There’s literally just a small number that is keeping the fight from getting made. However, Higgins says Joshua doesn’t want to compromise the way he already has. Higgins has backed down twice from offering 50 and 40 percent splits. He’s now down to 35 percent. If he backs down from this too, the fight will get made, but it could leave a sour taste in his mouth, as the negotiations will have been entirely in Joshua’s favor without him having an inch.

“AJ is refusing to compromise and has drawn a line in the sand,” said Higgins to skysports.com this week.

Joshua holds 2 world titles compared to Parker’s 1 title. The money split is more related to how much revenue Joshua brings to the table compared to Parker. Joshua is a big pay-per-view star in the UK, and he’s capable of selling out stadiums even when fighting mere contenders. Joshua can bring in a lot of PPV buys even against obscure contenders with little talent. We’ve seen that over and over. Joshua’s popularity gives him power to give guys like Parker and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder take it or leave it offers. It’s up to them to decide whether they want to get the biggest purse of their careers or not, even if it’s not the percentage deal they would prefer to get from Joshua.

Parker, 25, has agreed to a rematch deal in hopes of getting the fight made with Joshua. Hearn wants less than the 35 percent for Parker. That’s likely more important to Hearn and Joshua than the rematch Parker is offering.

“I don’t box for money, I just enjoy it,” said Parker on his social media site.

Hearn wants Parker’s promoter David Higgins to fly over to the UK to meet with him so that they can speak in person and put the deal together. Higgins doesn’t want to do that as long as Hearn is resistant to offering concessions. Meeting with Hearn in the UK would give the British promoter a stronger position to get the deal he favors over that of what Higgins is looking to get. Higgins hasn’t yet asked Hearn to fly over to New Zealand to meet with him in person.

“There’s a good chance [Parker’s promoter] David Higgins will fly over in the next week to try and close the deal,” said Hearn to skysports.com.

The chances of Higgins making that flight to the UK are low at this point. He doesn’t want to fly over until Hearn gives in a little in the negotiations.