By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Sky broadcaster David Haye talked last Saturday night about the upcoming fight against former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Haye told the unbeaten Wilder that he sees the Fury fight as the perfect build-up for him to face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua.
Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) was less confident that the fight would happen. Wilder believes that a fight between him and the unbeaten Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) might take a long time before it happens, which is what a lot of boxing fans believe.
Joshua’s rejection of a $50 million offer from Team Wilder is one sign that the fight between them won’t be happening anytime soon. Another example is Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn offering Wilder a $15 million flat fee for the fight that could break $100 million.
The winner of the Fury vs. Wilder fight should in theory be in the position to get a big money fight against Joshua on April 13, but it depends on which of the two come out victorious. If Wilder wins, then he’ll likely be stuck with the same $15 million flat fee that he had offered to him already by Hearn for the Joshua fight. If Fury beats Wilder, then he’ll have a good chance of getting the Joshua fight as long as he’s willing to take less than a 50-50 deal. Hearn will likely offer Fury a 60-40 split at best. I can’t see Hearn going above a 40 percent offer for Fury.
This is the Haye and Wilder exchange in a conversation picked up by Fighthype:
Haye: “This fight can provide the perfect build-up to AJ [Anthony Joshua.”
Wilder: ”Most definitely, but that might be a long time in coming. I’ve been anticipating this for a very long time. He has never been beaten.”
Haye: ”He [Tyson Fury] has never been beaten. He is the guy who beat Wladimir Klitschko.”
Wilder: ”I’m glad we could come together and make this fight happen. You know what I’m talking about. Always good to see you, brother.”
Haye: ”I would offer to do some sparring, but I’m done.”
Wilder:”For sure? Really?”
Haye: ”For sure, all my good rounds were done behind closed doors.”
Haye used Wilder as a sparring partner many years ago before he became a world champion. Some of the video of the sparring surfaced on Youtube. As you would guess, the video clip was flattering to Haye in making him look good. The boxing fans didn’t see where Wilder was having his moments in the sparring.
”Deontay Wilder is a sharpshooter,” Haye said to Fighthype. ”I don’t really think people grasp how accurate he is and how sharp he is. I sparred many rounds with him, and I had to be switched on. As much as I had to be switched on in a fight, I had to be switched on in sparring. Normally in sparring, you’re kind of going 80 to 90 percent, and you’re wearing big gloves and headgear. With Wilder, you have to be on your game otherwise he can hit you and hurt you very, very fast. I understand why Tony Bellew believes that. If I had to put a bet down on current form, you have to go with Deontay Wilder,” Haye said.
It’s unclear why Haye is bothering to mention Tony Bellew in reference to Wilder. Obviously a fight between them would be a horrible mismatch with Wilder landing a single right hand to score a fast knockout in the 1st round. Heck, it wouldn’t be sporting. The 6’3” Bellew is too short, too old and too limited to have a chance against a talent like Wilder. Bellew is going to have major problems in his fight against cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk later this year if the fight takes place.
