Joshua vs Wilder: Eddie Hearn denies he offered Deontay’s people £8.8m to fight Brit ace AJ in £75million clash
Huge heavyweight clash in the works as AJ looks to finally unify the heavyweight division
EDDIE HEARN has denied offering Deontay Wilder £8.8million to fight Anthony Joshua.
A huge unification bout is in the works and could be worth £75million and reports claimed Hearn had made an opening offer to the American's camp.
Wilder’s team apparently demanded a 50/50 split of the pot before lowering their sights to 40 per cent.
But the £8.8m – which doesn’t include pay-per-view or gate revenue – works out at less than 20 per cent of the estimated £75m the fight is expected to generate.
Wilder’s co-manager Shelly Finkel said: “It was a take-it-or-leave-it offer.
“A flat fee with no place, date or venue, nor even whether it was the next fight.
“We will respond appropriately in the next day or so with our counter offer. If Joshua is serious, we will take the fight. Deontay wants this fight. He doesn’t want anyone else.”
Joshua has been ordered by the WBA to fight Alexander Povetkin next, but the British ace wants his Russian counterpart to wait until 2019 so he can take out Wilder first.
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The American is also keen to spar and posted an inflammatory dig at AJ on social media.
Wilder wrote: “It’s obvious at this point 40-0 w/39ko’s they don’t want no smoke… at some point in life a boy must detach his lips from mum nipples and become a man, I’m just saying…”
Joshua took Joseph Parker's WBO title in Cardiff last month to add to his growing collection of belts.
He now holds the WBA, IBF and IBO as well, with just Wilder's WBC missing from his waist.