Eddie Hearn, promoter for IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs), is going to keep a close eye on the buyrate figures for the upcoming Showtime/BT Sport Pay-Per-View event on December 1, which features Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) defending his WBC world title against Tyson Fury at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Joshua is scheduled to defend his belts at Wembley Stadium on April 13.
Hearn and the unified champ are hoping to get Wilder in the ring on that date.
The two sides have had issues when negotiating in the past, because neither fighter has been able to agree on the financial figures.
Wilder wants something closer to a 50-50 split, while Hearn and Joshua wanted something closer to the realm of a set flat fee of $15 million.
Hearn, who has not held any talks with Wilder's team in the last 10 days, will consider a 50-50 split - if Wilder' pay-per-view does great numbers - at least 1 million buys or more.
"I think they'll want to see how the numbers do," said Hearn to Sky Sports.
"It [disappointing sales] probably makes it harder, because we look at it and say - 'Look, you're not a draw'.
"I actually want it to do better than do worse, because if it does bad, he has zero bargaining position. If it does well, then we'll accept that. If it does over a million buys, then we will have to look closer to 50-50.
"I just want to make progress. Just have a chat. I don't expect them to sign the fight before December 1. But the problem is, if we start after December, we've got to go through a process that we could be going through now. A bit frustrating."
Should the Wilder deal fall out, then Joshua would look to a rematch with Dillian Whyte, who faces Dereck Chisora in a rematch on December 22 at The O2 in London.
"Ultimately, because of the lateness of the fight, we would want an agreement in place with Dillian Whyte, probably going into this fight, for April 13, if we get to a stage where the Wilder fight is not happening," said Hearn. "We would like to tie this up, because we don't really want to wait until December 22."
2023-10-22 04:42:22
