By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn is still talking about how he’d “love” for Deontay Wilder to step aside so that Tyson Fury goes straight into a unification fight against Anthony Joshua this year.
At the same time, Hearn says it would be “embarrassing” for the former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) if he did agree to step aside because it would mean that he doesn’t have the self-confidence to take the trilogy match against Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs).
Hearn still holding out hope that Wilder will get cold feet and just give up the ship, and let Fury move forward with his career to battle Joshua for the undisputed championship. It’s a hopeless pipedream on Hearn’s part to be still hoping Wilder will lose his nerve and back out of the Fury fight.
If Wilder chooses to step aside, he’ll be sorry he did so, as Hearn says the Joshua vs. Fury fight will probably be a “two-fight deal.” That means that Wilder would be stuck on the sidelines waiting for an entire year for the smoke to clear from the two-Joshua-Fury fights. It could be even longer than that if the World Boxing Council lets Joshua and Fury fight a third time.
Hearn: I would love Wilder to step aside
“It would be embarrassing, but I would love him to step aside,” said Hearn to IFL TV on Deontay Wilder in talking about a hypothetical situation of him stepping aside to let Fury fight Joshua.
“I spoke to AJ the other night and said, ‘If you imagine that I would come up to you,” after AJ vs. Ruiz 1, and I come up to AJ and go, ‘AJ, they’ll give you a few quid to step aside.”
“Think about that conversation. How do you think that conversation would have gone? Something like ‘F*** right off. There’s not the amount of money in the world that you can give me,’ and that’s what he said the other night. He said, ‘there’s not the amount of money in the world that you could have given me to not take that fight.’
“And if you take step aside money, you’re showing terrific weakness because you’re giving someone an opportunity to take what you should feel is yours without you getting an opportunity to win it back.
“If you believe in yourself and you back yourself, you should NEVER step aside. I can’t remember a time where I had to deal with a fighter to step aside,” said Hearn.
The talented Wilder sees himself as a warrior, and there’s no way on earth he’d agree to step aside so that Fury can face AJ. Deontay was hopping mad when his fight with Fury was stopped in the 7th round last February.
Joshua would be furious if Hearn brought up the subject of a step aside deal with him, and Wilder is no different. Hearn isn’t endearing himself to ‘The Bronze Bomber’ by continually harping on the subject and holding out hope that maybe he’ll change his mind and agree to step aside.
Deontay Wilder would NEVER agree to step aside deal
“Do you remember when Yarde was going to step aside for Kovalev to fight Canelo?” said Hearn. “Sometimes there’s a situation where you might step aside, and then you get a shot against someone else because you’re stepping aside.
“If you’re giving away a chance to fight a pound-for-pound great that you believe you can beat or you’re stepping aside from a rematch, that’s a bigger thing.
“If you lose your title and you’ve got a straight rematch to win it back if you step aside and let someone else try and claim what you feel is yours. I can never call a fighter a ‘coward’ because these guys are braver than I’ll ever be. That is wrong, and that is a sign of weakness.
“I think that means you don’t want it enough or you don’t believe you can win. Knowing Deontay Wilder like I do, I cannot imagine in a million years that Deontay Wilder would step aside for this fight. He has too much pride.
“You know Deontay Wilder doesn’t particularly like Anthony Joshua. ‘Deontay Wilder definitely doesn’t like me.’ Shelly Finkel, Al Haymon, they definitely don’t like him. Do you think they would let Joshua get a chance to become the undisputed heavyweight champion?”
If Hearn truly believes that Wilder would never agree to a step aside deal, you have to wonder why he’s continually banging on about it. Hearn needs to let it go already instead of his constant rattling on about Wilder stepping aside one of these days.
Wilder isn’t a quitter, and he’s not going to back out of his fight with Fury. The only way that Fury will be able to move on is if he beats Wilder, and even then, he may be licking his wounds for a long time before he’s ready to face Joshua.
Joshua vs. Fury will likely be a two-fight deal – Hearn
“And when we do the Fury fight deal, it’ll probably be a two-fight deal anyway,” Hearn said about a fight between Joshua and Fury. “So I’m a lot more comfortable with them [Wilder and Fury] getting it out of the way now, you know?
“This all stems from the comments I made, which was, ‘Do you think there’s a chance that Joshua goes straight into a Fury fight?’ I said, ‘Anything is possible.’ Bob Arum could phone me tomorrow and say, ‘Listen, Wilder wants to step aside.’ That’s definitely a conversation to be had,” said Hearn.
So there it is. Joshua and Fury will be signing a two-fight deal when the time comes for them to face each other, and the contenders will be locked out waiting for ages. In a two-fight deal, one of these two heavyweights could see their career upended.
It would be bad for Joshua if he loses both fights to Fury because that would put him in dire straights. With three losses on his record, Joshua would need to rebuild for a long time for him to come back from that. If Hearn makes the wrong move by putting Joshua in with someone a little too good during the rebuilding phase, he could finish him.
No step aside deal offered to Pulev
“I just can’t see it. I’ve not offered Pulev anything,” said Hearn when asked if he’d offered Pulev a step aside deal. “There would be a conversation to be had [with Kubrat Pulev] if Wilder were willing to step aside, and we would have that conversation. It wouldn’t even be me having that conversation. It would just be Bob [Arum] speaking to Pulev.
“In this situation, Arum would come to me and say, ‘I spoke to Wilder. I can get him to step aside. I spoke to Pulev, and they’re willing to [step aside]. Would you be willing to go straight into the Tyson Fury fight?’ I’ll answer that now. Yes. But would Pulev step aside at this stage in his career? Probably. But would Wilder step aside? No, I don’t think so,” said Hearn.
It would be pointless to offer Kubrat Pulev a step aside without Wilder first agreeing to it. Hearn believes that the 39-year-old Pulev would cave in and take the step aside, but Wilder would be the problem. He’s not going to do it, which is why it’s strange that Hearn keeps talking about it. He just needs to let go already with that vision of his.
Hearn: Stepping aside is a sign of weakness
“If you’re stepping aside, you’re saying, ‘I can’t win,'” said Hearn. “Look what’s happening in the world with this. Anything can happen. You could step aside, watch AJ go fight Fury and beat him, and become undisputed heavyweight champion. And then get another one of these [another pandemic], and boxing is off for six or seven months.
“Then AJ goes and vacates a belt, and whatever. Then you don’t get your shot again. That’s why we [Joshua] had to take the [Andy] Ruiz fight then. We didn’t want to wait. You can’t wait for boxing, especially when we come back from this. Fighters have to understand. Don’t wait. If you believe in yourself, take it,” said Hearn.
It would be a sign of weakness for any fighter to step aside, but if the money is right, it will make sense. If Hearn threw massive money at Deontay, then who knows? Everyone has a price.
