What next for AJ and Wilder?

By Boxing News - 06/30/2018 - Comments

Image: What next for AJ and Wilder?

By Big-G1977: Now that the fight between AJ and Wilder is not the next one but potentially next year let’s look at the options available. Using a basis of 2 fights a year I will speculate as to what could happen and the impacts on each of the fighters career over the potential next 3 fights if they avoid each other.

Anthony Joshua

Alexander Povetkin – Very popular fight in Europe selling a stadium out and enhancing AJ’s global appeal especially with brands. £20mil plus earnings.

Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller – Possibly in US, Hearn to make a point of trying to introduce AJ to American market in the evening rather than afternoon when he fights in UK. AJ will make more as he will still get a big UK PPV and some US cash in various forms. £30mil plus earnings.

Dillian White vs. Parker winner – UK fight which will be big in Europe again but now also bigger in US after Miller fight. Potentially the fight is put back to 1am like Bruno/Lewis to accommodate US market with a very strong undercard and possibly followed by a DAZN card in US. £35mil plus earnings.

Deontay Wilder

Dominic Brazeale – Beaten by AJ after a handful of fights so it won’t inspire PPV in US and zero in UK. Small arena and not the biggest viewing on free TV. £2.5mil plus earnings

Luis Ortiz 2 – Only option to restore a bit of credit but by now most are not impressed. Will maybe sell out Barclays but struggle to get PPV. £3.5mil plus earnings.

Tyson Fury – Running out of options to make some money the Fury fight makes sense as he is not great and his body can’t keep up with his past. Wilder will see him as similar to Ortiz in being past it but still a name to brag about. Fury is also perfect for promoting in the USA so it could be a money spinner but not huge. £10mil plus earnings.

Those are the guesses of next 3 fights and of course that could all change but based on them not fighting each other which most Wilder fans keep saying will be the case I have been looking at the possibilities. Now forgetting all the fantasy figures being put out by some I have taken realistic minimum earnings per fight. There are of course more important things than earnings alone. For example AJ is loved in his country and many others whilst Wilder is similar to Fury and not loved by his own country. It is also worth noting that both Wilder and Fury are very aggressive and negative when on social media. This is a new era where people hear things instantly and the old days of “baddest man on the planet” don’t win fans apart from a small section. This has a massive impact on popularity. McGregor for example is one of the few who can trash talk but whilst being a dick is still funny and charming in a perverse way but he also nails his target audience.

Both Wilder and Fury have split personalities, Wilder says he fights for his daughter one second then acts all gangsta the next. Fury is all about god and kindness one min then a complete tool the next. This means they both struggle to be consistent and therefore don’t build a solid following from non-hardcore fans. AJ is well managed and can cross many different sections of the public. Videos of him at Finchley amateur boxing club buying new kit and car for the trainer pull the heart strings and are gold PR. He transcends many countries and religions and inspires so many people unlike the 2 mentioned earlier.

AJ has mastered this PR aspect and helped by Hearn massively! I personally don’t like or dislike Hearn but he is doing a job on AJ that Wilder dreams was done on him as he would now have many more zeros on the end of his bank balance if he was.

My point is that we can change the names on the next 3 fights and maybe figures or venues slightly but whichever way you look at it the end result is similar! Wilder needs AJ to make real money as does AJ needs Wilder to crack the US market properly. If Wilder loses to Brazeale then AJ could still crack the US fighting him in a rematch but for Wilder the route is harder. AJ’s pulling power is the money maker and if he loses the purses will drop significantly.

Both fighters have flaws no doubt but AJ has now shown he can be boring when needed to survive! As long as this doesn’t become a standard way of fighting he will continue to grow but it is a great tool to have in the locker. Wilder is WILD but has a mega punch so always is in with a chance against anyone. Most boxing experts, not commenter’s, regard AJ as the best and this is reflected in every independent ranking system I have seen but it is a shame we as fans won’t see it happen soon.

If Wilder was confident in his ability he would of signed the agreed upon deal with contract he said he had but chose not to so really doesn’t look very good and certainly won’t win more fans for this attitude. AJ meanwhile will gain more and more from great public relations sorted by Hearn etc.

To sum it up both fighters need each other to significantly increase their earnings! But AJ will continue on a higher level as Wilder will struggle to gain popularity without the AJ fight. Taking on White could earn him more but I think we all know that isn’t a possibility at the moment. Let’s just hope they somehow agree to fight at Wembley in April and a 2-3 fight deal is agreed, first to win 2, and we can actually see the best win. In a couple years time maybe Fury is back and some of the young guns out there have approached the required level to keep the interested fights going. Until then we will be watching so so fights rather than seeing the top 2 fight each other and that is a sad conclusion whichever fighter you prefer.

Let’s hope they fight soon.