By Charles Brun: Anthony Joshua honed in on a comment made by former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury last week when asking him to keep his word about giving him a trilogy fight.
In a Twitter post, Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) revealed that he had been offered more money to face IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) chose to give Fury a rematch. As such, Wilder wanted to persuade Fury to act in kind by being a man of his word in giving him the third fight that they were
Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn want the boxing public to know that Wilder chose not to take the fight last year, even though he was offered more money than what he got for the rematch with Fury.
Wilder had reasons for not fighting Joshua
Joshua and Hearn aren’t saying that Wilder had a lot of issues with them over previous attempts at getting a fight set up. Hearn was constantly talking to the media, saying stuff about Wilder’s flat fees and how he didn’t bring in the same kind of fans for his fights compared to Joshua.
Hearn was also trying to get Wilder to face Dillian Whyte before considering making a fight with him and Joshua. With all that baggage from the past, it’s not surprising that Wilder didn’t agree to fight Joshua.
You can argue that there was a lot of bad blood on Wilder’s part, and that’s why he likely chose to go for the smaller money fight against Fury.
“In the rematch agreement, there was a rematch clause. Now it is time for you to be a man and honor your word, instead of trying to weasel out of our agreement,” said Wilder to Tyson Fury on Twitter last week.
“When that fight was a draw, I told you that I would give you a rematch. You know I was offered more money to fight Joshua than I was getting to fight you. Again being a man of my word, I fought you like I said I would,” Deontay said.
In response to Wilder’s Tweet, Hearn popped off with this remark on social media:
“I thought AJ ducked you?”
We don’t know when Wilder said that Joshua ducked him, but it’s likely during the time that Hearn was talking flat fees and such. If you’re offering Wilder a flat fee for a fight that could potentially bring in $100 million, you can understand why Deontay would see that as a ducking move on Joshua’s part.
When you’re offering a fighter a flat fee, is that a duck move? I think you can say it is a ducking move, which is why it’s not surprising that Wilder was left with a bad taste in his mouth from his attempts at setting up a fight with Joshua.
Joshua says Deontay admitted “lucrative offer”
“When time goes by, naturally, the truth will always reveal itself,” said Joshua to Sky Sports News about Wilder. “I get a lot of stick, but I take it with a pinch of salt.
“He [Wilder] admitted it. We made him a lucrative offer, but he wanted to face Fury. So be it. If that’s what he wanted to do, fine. But he dragged my name through the mud,” said Joshua.
Wilder wanted the fight with Joshua, but after all the mess that he’d had already gone through trying to set it up, it’s perfectly understandable why he walked away.
Hearn’s assistance on Joshua being the A-side during the negotiations didn’t help matters.