13
Apr
2021
Lawrence Lustig / Ryan Hafey
Shelly Finkel has exclusively explained the situation to WBN after confirming a contract to fight Anthony Joshua was received by Deontay Wilder and his team recently.
Firstly, just as promised (although twelve hours later than stated), Eddie Hearn sent Finkel a copy of a renewed written agreement for Joshua to battle Wilder in an undisputed unification clash on April 13.
The problem is, Joshua stated the paperwork would be signed by him. Secondly, all blocks from initial negotiations over the summer, stopping the fight from happening the first time, would be removed.
WBN can reveal neither of these has come to fruition.
Joshua’s intentions have now become cloudy as Finkel lifts the lid on what was presented to Wilder in expectation for him to accept a deal to travel to Wembley Stadium next spring.
“There’s no doubt in my mind they don’t want to fight with Deontay Wilder in April,” Finkel exclusively told World Boxing News.
“If they did, they wouldn’t have sent a contract with more impediments in it than the first time. I mean, they don’t even have their own lies together right now.
“Joshua said he’d send a signed contract that removed all impediments. That it would be signed by him. But the contract is not even signed by him – it’s signed by Eddie Hearn.
“Barry (Hearn) also sent a tweet out yesterday stating the contract was signed by ‘AJ’ but it’s not. And…added to that, they have now put more blocks on the rematch clause than before.
“In the original contract for a fight in 2018, Deontay rejected it because of the rematch clause only being in place for Joshua. Now, they’ve added that a rematch won’t take place if it’s a draw.
“I mean, there has to be a rematch if there’s a draw, they don’t even have their own story straight!”
He continued: “The bottom line is, they don’t want to make the fight. They didn’t want to make it in September. And they don’t want to make it now – for April.
“If they did, they would have changed the things (Deontay was adverse to in the original contract) like Joshua said they would.
“Obviously, whether Anthony Joshua is afraid…or they are afraid, they are fooling the public regarding this fight. They are not looking to fight Deontay Wilder.
“They are lying, they don’t want to fight or they wouldn’t have sent the contract the way they did.
“The fact is, they sent a contract worse than before and left in the things Deontay wanted to be changed. They have no desire to fight on April 13 whatsoever and they keep telling the public lies.
Asked whether this could be the final nail in the coffin for Anthony Joshua vs Wilder, Finkel responded: “I’m just fed up discussing this bull**** with them because it’s one bull**** after another.
“People who want to be their fans – that’s fine. But don’t believe the lies coming from the Joshua side surrounding these negotiations.
“Deontay Wilder wants this fight. It’s not down to anything on his side that’s it’s not happening.
“If however, terms are realistic in the future, we would be open to receiving the contract we were expecting. We would be happy to look at it if those impediments were removed – as previously stated by Joshua himself,” he added.
Phil Jay is Editor of WBN. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay