By Scott Gilfoid: IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua wants unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder to “humble” himself so that they can make their fight happen, according to an interview of AJ at ESPN. Joshua says Wilder isn’t in control of the money, even though his team offered him $50 million, which he chose not to accept for some reason. Was that not good enough for AJ?
Joshua wants to see Wilder humble himself in order to make the fight happen between them, and even then there’s no guarantee the fight will happen. It didn’t happen last September, did it? Wilder agreed to the flat fee and to fight Joshua in the UK, and what happened? Joshua ended up fighting Alexander Povetkin instead. Just by Joshua saying that Wilder has to humble himself, it sounds like he wants him to beg for the fight. If Joshua is serious about wanting to get the Wilder fight, I couldn’t think of a worst way to go about it by saying that he needs to humble himself.
I hate to break this to Joshua, but Wilder isn’t going to grovel just to get a fight with him. If Joshua wants one of his opponents to humble himself in order to get a fight against him, he’s going to have to have to look elsewhere. Wilder has made it clear that he’s no longer going to accept the lowball offers from Joshua’s Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn. Wilder wants the sweet 50-50 cash deal. The $15 million flat fee offer from Hearn to Wilder has gone out the window. Wilder tried accepting that deal, and it still didn’t get him the fight with AJ.
Wilder humbled himself last September by agreeing to a flat fee for the Joshua fight, and it still didn’t get him the fight. As such, you have to wonder if Joshua is just saying stuff to give the appearance to the boxing world that he wants the fight with Deontay or if he’s confused about what’s been going on with the negotiations between Hearn and Wilder.
“He’s not the one bringing the money to the table,” Joshua said to ESPN.com. DAZN and ESPN are. “Showtime aren’t bringing anything to the table so Wilder’s not in control and he needs to humble himself before it’s too late and me and Tyson Fury end up fighting.”
Joshua’s opponent Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller isn’t bringing anything to the table, and he’s still fighting him on June 1.
The excuse that Joshua gives for Wilder not rating what he’s asking for is he’s not bringing money to the table. Wilder just brought in a lot of PPV buys on SHOWTIME for his fight last December against British heavyweight Tyson Fury, who the casual boxing fans in the States had never heard of. Wilder promoted the heck out of the Fury fight, and helped make that fight a huge success. It wasn’t because of Fury the fight brought in 325,000 buys on SHOWTIME.
Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker was given 35% for a fight with Joshua. It’s believed by some boxing fans that Wilder’s deal that was offered him by Hearn was well below the 35% Parker was given.