By Rick Reeno
Promoter Lou DiBella has confirmed to BoxingScene.com that WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) has thrown down an offer of $50 million to Anthony Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs).
Earlier today, Wilder and his team sent an offer to Eddie Hearn, promoter of Joshua, with a guarantee of $50 million for a high stakes unification in the fall.
A few weeks ago, Hearn sent Wilder a guaranteed offer of $12.5 million to fight Joshua, who holds the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO world heavyweight titles.
Hearn, in a recent interview with BoxingScene, explained that Joshua-Wilder was a contest where the overall revenue (after all expenses) would fall around $40 million.
Based on that calculation, Hearn believes the offer of $12.5 million to Wilder is "more than fair."
DiBella, who works closely with Widler and his adviser Al Haymon, says the offer of $50 million is a clear indication that Wilder and his team are aggressively pursuing this fight.
"An offer went out from Deontay and his entire team, to Hearn and Joshua. The fight would take place at the end of the year, no rematch clause... And we're taking all of the risk.... $50 million against 50%. If the fight does $40 million then he still gets $50 million. If it does $200 million he gets $100 million. It's $50 million guaranteed. Let's see who wants to make the fight. We're trying to make the biggest fight of this generation - that's what this is. We're not undervaluing his guy. We've made an incredibly aggressive and fair offer," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.
"If Anthony Joshua wants to fight Deontay Wilder, he now has an extraordinary offer to accept."
If a deal is not reached for the unification, Hearn has already confirmed that Joshua would likely satisfy his mandatory obligation to the WBA by fighting Alexander Povetkin. The sanctioning body has already ordered Joshua and Povetkin to face each other.
2023-10-20 22:15:50
