By David Alexander: Eddie Hearn is heading to New York for talks with Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) as a long-awaited clash with Anthony Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) moves ever closer. The Matchroom boss will meet with Al Haymon and Shelly Finkel, the two main advisors to WBC heavyweight title holder Wilder, on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a summer unification blockbuster with WBA, IBO and WBO champ Joshua.
It has been suggested that Hearn made Wilder and his team an £8.8m ($10.5 million US dollars) offer to fight Joshua at Wembley Stadium this September but has received no counter-offer and now wants to meet face-to-face in an attempt to get the deal moving.
“We will sit down and have some scrambled eggs and smoked salmon,” Hearn said to the independent.co.uk. “I don’t think they like me and I think they will be quite aggressive, but I’ll just tell them how it is.
Concerning the potential heavyweight match up this year and the difficulty of making this match happen, Hearn also said: “This fight shouldn’t be difficult to make and if everyone puts egos aside we can make the biggest fight in world boxing.”
Joshua has been ordered by the WBA to fight mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs) before any meeting with American Wilder but the British boxer has been quite clear about who he would prefer to face. “Anthony’s made it clear – that’s the fight he wants next, the Deontay Wilder fight,” Hearn said last week. “With these mandatories coming up as well, Povetkin, and the possible IBF mandatory, I’ve said before there’s not many opportunities to make an undisputed fight. Really the focus is for us to make the Deontay Wilder fight next.
Hearn also said that if the negotiations break down in New York on Thursday, there is always the potential fight between Joshua and Povetkin:
“A meeting like this is what we need. We have our thoughts on how the deal should work. We haven’t had any offers from them but I’ve asked for a meeting and they’ve accepted that. “If not, it has to be the one after, and we’ll have to deal with a mandatory in the meantime. It could be Alexander Povetkin.
Eddie Hearn also mentioned that the main issue is the money and how both fighters and promoters can make a deal, also mentioning that their side have no problems facing Wilder:
“Generally from AJ’s side, from our side, from the team’s side, the Wilder fight is one we have no problems with at all. We’ve just got to find the right deal.”