Deontay Wilder has opened up on why a fight with Anthony Joshua failed to get over the line.
The American’s revelation came after Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, finally admitted that his charge turned down a $50 million offer in 2018.
Wilder was hell-bent on facing Joshua for the undisputed title at the time. However, the Briton didn’t want to engage.
Instead, Hearn called Wilder’s bluff by rejecting the $50 million and sending a counteroffer of just $15 million to Wilder for a UK fight.
Joshua wanted home comforts, as was his MO at the time. In a stunning turn of events, Wilder accepted the lowball deal.
Agreeing to 99% of everything thrown at him to get the encounter made, Wilder wanted two minor points changed in the contract before signing.
Hearn and Joshua then switched to Alexander Povetkin at the last minute.
Airing his thoughts on what transpired, Wilder finally hopes to land his rival in 2024. The pair share a bill on December 23 with a deal potentially in place for next year.
Wilder blames the six-year delay on Joshua’s team protecting him.
Deontay Wilder on AJ collapse
“It’s his management that has held him back from fighting me. You know he’s a fighter,” Wilder told The Daily Mail.
“It’s been over six years, but there comes a point in time where you’re like, ‘Forget it.’
“Many times he wanted to fight, he wanted to accept it, but his handlers didn’t want it because Joshua is the money-maker for the company. If he goes down, so does the business.
“I said you don’t agree to terms before sending the contract. I didn’t know what the contract looked like at this point.
“I’m not going to put myself in a position and say yes, I agree terms and then receive a contract that is just rubbish. You can’t sign it.
“But, they never sent it.
“There are many reasons why that fight didn’t happen, but we must look to the future.
“We have a big chance of getting the fight. But, it’s all irrelevant if they don’t win on December 23.”
Wilder faces Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia. Joshua battles Otto Wallin on the same “Day of Reckoning” card.
If they both come out on top, a fight should be easy to make for the first half of 2024.
Delaying the event so long has ultimately backfired for the pair, though. No title belts will be on the line when they finally trade blows.
Had they agreed before, the division’s first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis would have already been crowned.
That honor will now go to Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk, who meet on February 17 in the same arena.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer.
Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
