WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs), said he will accept nothing less than a 50-50 deal for a unification bout with the IBF World Champion, IBO, WBA, WBO, Anthony Joshua (22-0-0, 21 KOs).
Rather than face Joshua, Wilder will return to the ring on Showtime as he faces his mandatory challenger Dominic Breazeale on May 18th at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“Loyalty is everything, it’s the foundation of success. How can you do negotiations, a deal, if we don’t know what the other party is doing?” told Wilder to The Schemo.
“Whatever the fight was worth, let’s say $3, and you give me $1 and he gets the rest of the pot – I’m lowering my standards. That’s not right to me. Like I said, and I’ll say it again, the only way this fight is going to happen is if it’s 50/50. I don’t care what it is.” Wilder added.
Joshua will be back in the ring on June 1st, when he faces undefeated challenger Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and the fight will be broadcast on the DAZN platform.
“At this point in time it ain’t even about the belts. I’m the hottest, most talked about fighter in the world right now and I got one belt.” Wilder said.
“I got the one belt that means more than all the other belts. That’s that green WBC belt. The most precious and beautiful belt in boxing. Every great fighter has had this belt. If they want to correct, it’s going to be right down the line.” he added.
Anthony Joshua holds the WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO titles. (Source:www.stuff.co.nz)
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel have both blamed the other as a potential unification fight failed to get signed for last year.
While Hearn has stated that the $15 million offer to fight Joshua is still on offer, Wilder hit back saying he will not sign a one-sided contract.
“We’ve tried everything… I’m not going to sign a contract that doesn’t have a date, that doesn’t have a venue,” Hearn said.
“Nah, that’s one-sided. This contract is straight blind, one-sided, anyone who’s talking about ‘just sign it’ you can kiss me where the sun don’t shine, baby, because that ain’t never happening.” Hearn added.
