According to a report in The Telegraph, promoter Eddie Hearn and IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua have sent a "take it or leave it" flat fee offer of $12.5 million to WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder for a unification.
The contract was sent over with a deadline of 48 hours to accept the offer - or Joshua will likely make a mandatory defense against Alexander Povetkin of Russia.
The contract does not indicate where the fight will take place, when it will take place, or even whether it will be Joshua’s next fight.
The unification would likely generate somewhere between $50-100 million and some industry experts expect it generate even more - and since Wilder and his handlers have stated that a 60-40 split (in Joshua's favor) would fair - $12.5 million would be far below 40% of the financial take
“It was a take-it-or-leave-it offer,” Wilder's co-manager Shelly Finkel told The Telegraph.
“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.”
The first contest would take place at Wembley in London and Principality Stadium in Cardiff - and Wilder would have the option, should he win, to stage the rematch in the United States or the UK.
Last month, both of the heavyweight champions were in action.
Wilder (49-0, 39 KOs) survived a life and death seventh round to score a knockout victory over undefeated Cuban contender Luis Ortiz in the tenth round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Ortiz was knocked down three times in the contest.
And then later in the month, Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) added the WBO world title his collection with a twelve round unanimous decision over Joseph Parker at Principality. It was the first time where Joshua went the fill twelve round distance.
2023-10-20 19:08:59
