By Scott Gilfoid: Deontay Wilder could be losing out if he doesn’t take the fight with Anthony Joshua next, says promoter Eddie Hearn. He says the main priority for Joshua’s next fight is Wilder for April 13. This is different from what the boxing world believe. The fans think Dillian Whyte is in the #1 for the Joshua fight in April, and there is no #2. In other words, Hearn is going to ram the Joshua vs. Whyte rematch down the throats of the British boxing fans whether they want to see that fight or not.
Unlike other parts of the world where promoters need to be in tune to what the fans want to see, it’s easy for Hearn to match Joshua against anyone he wants, as the fans still purchase his fights on Sky Box office and they fill up 70,000 seat stadiums no matter who he faces. Hearn has proven repeatedly that he can put anyone in with Joshua, and his loyal fans will come see him fight in stadiums and purchase the matches on Sky Box Office PPV. With that kind of popularity that Joshua possesses, Hearn doesn’t need to risk him losing by matching him against good fighters like Wilder and Luis Ortiz.
“I won’t talk about the negotiations we’re having at the moment, because I did that last time and it bit me in the bottom,” Hearn said to Sky Sports News. “I’m going to stay quiet, keep this mush peeled and shut, and try and make the undisputed heavyweight fight. That’s the priority, it’s always been the priority, always been the plan.”
Hearn bragging about how he’s only going to offer Wilder a certain percentage or flat fee deal hasn’t helped him in the past line up a fight against Joshua. Hearn says he wants to try it differently by being quiet about the negotiations. However, if Hearn starts whispering in the ear of the likes of different interviewers, it’s possible that the status of the negotiations could be leaked. It all depends on how serious Hearn is in making the Joshua vs. Fury fight. If Hearn is just going through the motions to please Joshua and to get the boxing fans off his back by pretending he’s making a real attempt at negotiating the Wilder fight, then he probably won’t be broken up about the boxing world finding out about the daily status of the negotiations through leaks. After all, if that’s not the fight Hearn wants, then he can leak like sieve and it won’t matter that the Wilder vs. Joshua fight doesn’t get made.
Hearn says Wilder may miss getting the fight with Joshua if he doesn’t make it next. Just what that means is unclear, but it sounds like Hearn has doubts whether Wilder will win his rematch with Fury. If Wilder loses to Fury, then any chance of him fighting Joshua will be gone. Joshua doesn’t always face unbeaten fighters though. Wladimir Klitschko had been beaten a number of times, and Joshua still fought him. Carlos Takam had been beaten, and he fought him. Dillian Whyte has a knockout loss to Joshua from 2015, and he’s said to be in the lead position to get the fight against him on April 13.
Shelly Finkel, the co-manager for Deontay, wants to negotiate the fight in private without Hearn giving updates to the media and boxing fans. It’s questionable whether Hearn can accomplish that, as he loves to talk, and it appears at times that he gives status updates to get a better deal for his fighters.
If Hearn is serious about wanting to make the Joshua-Wilder fight for April 13, it’s going to be a tough for him to make the match unless he offers Wilder close to the 50-50 purse split that he’s asking for to take the fight with Joshua. Wilder is coming off of a 12 round split draw against Tyson Fury from last Saturday night on December 1, and there’s incredible interest from the boxing world in seeing a rematch between the two. The WBC sanctioned the rematch last Friday, so there’s nothing keeping Wilder and Fury from fighting again.
Having options will make Wilder harder to negotiate with, as he doesn’t need Joshua right now to make good money. The Fury rematch will make Wilder a ton of loot. Yeah, it won’t be the same money he’d fighting Joshua, but he at least will have a better chance of getting the purse split that he wants fighting Fury. Wilder won’t have to worry about receiving embarrassingly low flat fee offers from Fury, and he won’t have to deal with being given 80-20 or 70-30 purse split offers.
There’s too much interest in a rematch between Wilder and Fury for two not to fight each other again. It hurts Joshua and Hearn for Wilder and Fury to continue to fight each other, as their fights are taking up all the oxygen in the heavyweight division and leaving Joshua gasping for air with his lackluster fights against the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker and Carlos Takam.
Joshua said this recently about a fight against Wilder or Fury:
“What took this fool so long? Like we ain’t been interested?!! 🙄Anyway well done Fury! they wanted to get you because they assumed you was finished!! I’ll give you a fair one when your ready! Either one of you!”
It’s disappointing that Joshua is seemingly unable to pick or the other in saying he wants a fight against them. This ambivalence clearly shows that Joshua isn’t motivated enough to go after an opponent that’s a threat to beating him. Joshua comes across as wishy-washy in stating what he wants. One reason for that is Joshua is being fed weak opposition, and he’s getting tons of money no matter who he faces. It literally doesn’t matter if Hearn matches Joshua against weak fighters. His boxing fans will still happily pay to see him fight in stadiums and on Sky Box Office without grumbling about it. In other parts of the world like the U.S, that wouldn’t fly. Fighters need to fight good opposition for them to sell their fights to the fans.