By Allan Fox: Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn is upset seemingly about WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder reportedly have rejected a multi-fight deal that was offered to him by DAZN, which would have led to him facing IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in two fights.
Although Hearn doesn’t know for sure what’s going on with Wilder, he says he’s hearing that he could be signing a multi-fight deal with Showtime. Hearn doesn’t know what’s going on, so he’s doing a lot of guessing without all the facts being there in front of him.
Hearn says that if Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) does sign with Showtime Boxing, then that’s a sign that he didn’t want to fight Joshua in a unification match. Wilder has made it clear that he wants to fight Joshua.
“I don’t know if they’re boxing [Breazeale] on Showtime or if it’s a multi-fight deal. But I’m glad people are starting to see the truth… If they sign a multi-fight deal, it’s clear they don’t want the [AJ] fight,” Hearn said to ThaBoxingVoice,
The fight between Joshua and Wilder would still likely be doable whoever Deontay signs with. It would just be more complicated to put together. Hearn sounds frustrated, but he just needs to wait until the smoke clears before he sounds off. The fight is going between Wilder and Joshua. The two heavyweights have no one else to fight now that Tyson Fury has signed with Top Rank Boxing on ESPN. The only other big name besides Wilder and Joshua is Dillian Whyte, and his status is up in the air as well. If Top Rank signs Whyte, then he would be on ESPN as well.
Hearn he’s not sure what’s going on with Wilder, but he believes by next Tuesday he’ll know more about the situation. Hearn was hoping that Wilder would sign with DAZN, so that Joshua and him could face each other in a unification match. Wilder is rumored to have been given a $100 million, 3-fight deal by DAZN, which would have seen him get $20 million for the Dominic Breazeale fight on May 18, and then $40 million per fight for two fights against Joshua. Wilder isn’t saying anything about the deal, and it’s unclear whether he’ll ultimately accept it, wait for the deal to be sweetened or go off in the direction of signing a multi-fight contract with Showtime.
“I feel like we’ve done absolutely all we can. But again, I think less is more at this stage. Our job is to deliver the undisputed fight,” Hearn said to skysports.com. “It’s been frustrating and I think people are beginning to see the truth. But again, I’ll be quiet for now and let that truth unfold.”