By Scott Gilfoid: Deontay Wilder says he’ll deserve a 60-40 split in his favor for the Anthony Joshua fight after he defeats Tyson Fury on December 1, but he’ll be willing to accept a 50-50 fight in order to make the fight happen. Deontay’s stock is expected to go straight through the roof after he beats the brakes off Fury on December 1.
Wilder will be a worldwide superstar after he defeats the unbeaten Fury, who many boxing fans see as a better fighter than Joshua. Fury is the lineal champion, and the guy to beat right now in the heavyweight division to be crowned as the #1 guy.
Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) might have a chance of getting an even split for the Joshua fight if the British fighter’s promoter Eddie Hearn was interested in making the fight. But by asking for a 60-40 or 50-50 split, Wilder is giving Hearn all the excuses he needs to ignore him and focus on matching Joshua against his Matchroom fighters Dillian Whyte, Jarrell Miller and Oleksandr Usyk.
“After this Fury fight, for me in my mind, f*** 50/50 it’s 60/40 [in my favor], but to make this fight happen for the fans, I’m willing to do 50/50. It ain’t gonna go no lower than that.” Wilder said to ThaBoxingVoice.
I think I speak for a lot of boxing fans by saying that Joshua should agree to the 50-50 split with Wilder in order to make the fight happen, because I don’t see Deontay backing down from his 50% demand for the fight.
Joshua has hurt his career by fighting a lot of over-the-hill fighters in record-padding fights. His wily promoter Hearn has been matching him with the loving care of a mother hen taking care of one of his nestlings. You have to wonder what Joshua’s career would be like today if Hearn had put him in against the biggest threats from day one when he turned pro in 2012. Instead of all the wasted fights against weak opposition, boxing fans could have seen Joshua fighting Wilder three or four times, Luis Ortiz, Wladimir [when he was still young and able in 2012], David Haye and Povetkin [when he was still young in 2012].
Considering that Joseph Parker received only a 34% cut for the Joshua fight, Wilder being offered only $15 million by Hearn is a major hint that the British promoter simply has zero interest in matching his prize’d stable fighter AJ against KO artist like Deontay. When you see a promoter offering a superstar only a 15% cut of the loot, that tells you that they’re not willing to make the fight. There’s a chance in the future that Hearn will change his mind once Joshua takes a two or three losses, but right now, he doesn’t want the fight, because there’s simply too much for him to lose in making the fight. Joshua is making good money beating up on lesser fighters like Eric Molina, Dillian Whyte, Carlos Takam, Wladimir Klitschko, and Dominic Breazeale.
