By Tim Royner: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s had no luck in getting Deontay Wilder’s management to response to his e-mails to them about putting together a unification fight with IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua for April 13 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Hearn has made an offer to Tyson Fury, but he’s not saying what it is.
If Hearn isn’t serious about wanting to have Fury, Wilder or Dillian Whyte as the opponent for Joshua, then giving low-ball offers is the way to go. Once those guys reject Hearn’s offer, he can go with his plan-B guy.
Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller is believed to be the ace in the hole for Hearn if he can’t get Fury, Wilder or Whyte to agree to the offers that he’s made to them to face Joshua on April 13. Miller, 30, won’t be difficult for Hearn to setup a fight with, as he’s not made the good money that Wilder, Fury and Whyte have made. With Miller waiting in the background to be called up for a fight against Joshua for April, it makes it possible for Hearn to give low-ball offers to Fury, Wilder and Whyte. Hearn doesn’t need to give those fighters the money they’re asking for, because he’s already got his Plan-B opponent waiting in the wings to be called up to step in and face Joshua at a moment’s notice.
Hearn says he’s made offers to Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte and Wilder. He believes that he has a better chance of putting together a fight between Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) and Fury (27-0-1 19 KOs) than he does with Joshua-Wilder.
Hearn isn’t saying what the offer is that he made to the 6’9″ Fury, but it likely won’t be nearly enough to get the fight made with Joshua. Hearn and Joshua don’t appear to be ready to make the fights against Wilder and Fury. They want the fights, but the business side gets in the way each time.
Even with Dillian, Hearn and Joshua are having problems, as he wants a good deal as well to fight him. With Joshua wanting to be the A-side in the negotiations for all of these fights, it’s quite possible that he’s going to wind up having to face the other heavyweights like Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, Adam Kownacki, Hughie Fury and Bryant Jennings.
Hearn has very little chance of putting together a fight between Joshua and Fury unless he wants to give him the 50-50 purse split that he’s asking. Hearn is likely never going to get close to that split, so that fight will not get made.
“Right now, there’s more chance of fighting Tyson Fury,” Hearn said to skysports.com. “There’s a man that knows he can have this fight, if he wants it. I’ve spoken to him. He knows if he wants to fight Joshua, it can happen April 13.”
Hearn says he’s got to get the fight negotiated with one of them in the 10 to 14 days for Joshua’s April 13 fight. If Hearn doesn’t have Wilder, Fury, Whyte or Miller agreeing to the fight in the next two weeks, then he’s going to need to look in another direction towards one of the less popular heavyweights. The problem that Hearn has is he booked Wembley Stadium for April 13. That’s a huge stadium that seats 100,000 fans. If Hearn is stuck signing someone like Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller (23-0-, 20 KOs) for the April 13 date, then there’s a good chance that the fight wont sell out. Hearn will have wasted money booking a huge stadium that he can’t fill unless they give away tickets or slash the prices of them to the extent where fans won’t mind paying to see it.
It’s got to be tough for Hearn. He has a fighter that he feels deserves to make the majority of the money in his fights, but the other top heavyweights don’t want to be offered the lesser
Barber shop debates 💈 pic.twitter.com/MpU5w4e04V
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) January 12, 2019