By Allan Fox: Eddie Hearn wants Deontay Wilder to speak up and say whether he’s going to go ahead and take the third fight with Tyson Fury on December 19th or not, as he wants to line up the indication match against Anthony Joshua.
Hearn says he’s ready to go to contracts to get the Joshua-Fury fight done if former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) isn’t going to face Fury in the trilogy match.
The way that Wilder has been behaving since his 7th round knockout loss to Fury on February 22nd is alien to Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn, as he feels he should be responding and showing the motivation.
Hearn notes that Fury has been goading Wilder on social media by calling him a “dosser” and this and that, and he’s not retaliated by firing back with anything.
To some boxing fans, they feel that Wilder’s spirit was entirely broken by Fury in their rematch seven months ago in February.
It was such a one-sided fight that it resembled a massacre. Wilder never stood a chance even for an instant in that fight, and he may be lost his self-confidence.
Hearn wonders why Wilder is so quiet
“I just don’t understand why he’s gone so quiet,” said Hearn to IFL TV on Wilder, not speaking to the media since his loss to Fury. “I’ve said a few times because I almost wanted to see Wilder come out and say, ‘Right, all these people talking s*** about me, thinking I’m not going to take the rematch.
“I’m taking the rematch, it’s mine, and I’m winning my belt back. Let’s go.’ But I haven’t seen one interview, one article, one statement. He hasn’t got to do that, by the way. He can do what he wants. Don’t you think it’s a bit weird?
“Fury has goaded him a couple of times, hasn’t he? ‘You dosser, where are you hiding?’ Nothing. So I don’t know. [Fury’s Top Rank promoter Bob] Arum is talking about February or March now, but now he’s changed his tune, saying ‘December 19th.’
“So I hope that fight [Fury vs. Wilder 3] happens this year because I’ve been not negotiating with Bob, but over the last couple of weeks, me and Bob have been talking about Fury against Joshua.
Wilder probably doesn’t want to put any pressure on himself by coming out and talking trash, which the boxing public would expect him to back up inside the ring.
As long as Wilder isn’t talking, then there’s less pressure on him. Fans will assume that he’s scared of Fury, and they’ll see him as the clear favorite in the rematch. Whatever Wilder does in the trilogy match will be pure gravy because no one will be expecting anything from him due to his behavior.
You can’t blame Hearn for not being excited about the Joshua vs. Pulev fight, but he at least should get that match over with before he starts looking at other contests.
Joshua vs. Fury ready to go to contracts
“I think we’re ready to go to contracts on that now and make it official, I really do,” Hearn about the Joshua vs. Fury fight. “But it’s very uncertain until we know what Fury is doing in December, January, or February.
“Hopefully, he can fight in December, and they [Joshua and Fury] both win, and we can make the fight for the spring. But we can sign the contract now, subject to them both winning. It’s no problem, and I think again, talking to Bob, everyone’s on the same page.
“They [the contracts] should be because we got to sign before we fight. I’m certain this fight takes place if they both can win. I’m certain this fight [Fury vs. Joshua] takes place next year. Not ‘No, we don’t want it. They’re trying to.’ No, no one is slow-playing nothing. It’s on.
“The fight is on. We’ve put it in writing with them. We confirmed this deal. We’re ready to move forward on this deal. We never got anything back by the way, but I trust the people I wrote to say, ‘We’re on board as well.’
“So, I think everyone’s on board. It’s only the uncertainty of the world we’re in at the moment. ‘We’re [Joshua vs. Pulev] fighting December 12th. When are you fighting? Let me know, and we’ll get our contracts done,'” said Hearn.
Eddie looks like he’s in a big hurry to get the Joshua vs. Fury fight done, which could be a mistake. We saw the same behavior from Hearn before Joshua’s first fight against Ruiz in June 2019, and look what happened to him.
Hearn is rarely content with the opponent that he has for Joshua, and he’s often looking down the road.
Joshua will knockout Fury
“We know AJ is exclusive to Sky,” Hearn continued. “Tyson, does he have a first, last matching agreement or whatever? Can we share the broadcast? I’m open to any of that discussion.
DAZN in America, ESPN in America, how does that work? Venue to be agreed, and that’s it. We’ve agreed to the money for the first fight and the money for the second fight.
“So that’s the main thing: Sky, BT, and the American broadcast. I honestly don’t see an issue. What are we as promoters? Ruthless, money-hungry. Well, is there a bigger fight in world boxing? Absolutely not.
“How much money is in these two fights? [between Joshua and Fury]. Hundreds of millions of dollars. So you can’t have it one way. One minute I’m a money-grabbing as******, and then, on the other hand, I’m actually don’t want the fight.
“Please. What do you think I want? I want the money and the glory and the success, and all three of them come from that fight because he [Joshua] will knock Tyson Fury out,” said Hearn.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) looks like he’s fighting on another level right now, and Joshua still needs to show that he belongs in the ring with him. Although Joshua avenged his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr by beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision on December 7th, he fought in a real timid manner.
It was like watching one of Wladimir Klitschko’s old negative performances in which he was doing just the minimal to win. The way that Joshua looked against Ruiz in their two fights, Kubrat Pulev, has a real a chance of beating him in their December 12th contest.
Pulev is a wily veteran who knows how to win, and he gets the most out of his 6’4 1/2″ frame.