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No opinions, just posting the news:
Eddie Hearn will send a fight contract to Deontay Wilder this week, but admitted he has he doubts about why the American has suddenly accepted Anthony Joshua’s demands.
Joshua wants to stage a heavyweight unification fight in the UK, and rejected a £37million offer to come to the United States.
Hearn had said he expected Joshua to fight his mandatory Alexander Povetkin after not hearing back from Wilder’s team, but the WBC champion announced on Tuesday he had accepted AJ’s offer.
Wilder told Hearn and Joshua he was ready to come to the UK and wanted to sign the contract as soon as possible.
Hearn reacted immediately to the news by saying a contract would be in Wilder’s inbox by the end of the week, but admitted he has his suspicions about the American’s motives.
‘I made an offer to Deontay Wilder just under four weeks ago,’ Hearn said.
‘They’ve obviously heard that we are likely to fight Alexander Povetkin in September so I don’t know whether this was panic or bluster.
‘Obviously we have lost a lot of time and a September for fight with Wilder in terms of venue, US TV and for pure promotional build, is impossible really.
‘If it is Wilder next, it has to probably be October or November. We are running out of time.
‘Our guys will be working on the contract and they will certainly have it by the end of the week, probably before. We will then find out what is real.
‘It makes me sceptical because of the way they are handling this. We are not looking to have anything in that contract out of the ordinary.’
Joshua has sold out three stadiums for his last three fights, but Hearn said the only venue where the Wilder-AJ fight could be held was Wembley.
The 28-year-old became the WBA (Super) and IBF champion at Wembley in April 2017, and went on to win the WBO strap in Cardiff earlier this year.
Should Wilder and Joshua go to war, it will be the first time a heavyweight champion could own all four major world titles.
Eddie Hearn will send a fight contract to Deontay Wilder this week, but admitted he has he doubts about why the American has suddenly accepted Anthony Joshua’s demands.
Joshua wants to stage a heavyweight unification fight in the UK, and rejected a £37million offer to come to the United States.
Hearn had said he expected Joshua to fight his mandatory Alexander Povetkin after not hearing back from Wilder’s team, but the WBC champion announced on Tuesday he had accepted AJ’s offer.
Wilder told Hearn and Joshua he was ready to come to the UK and wanted to sign the contract as soon as possible.
Hearn reacted immediately to the news by saying a contract would be in Wilder’s inbox by the end of the week, but admitted he has his suspicions about the American’s motives.
‘I made an offer to Deontay Wilder just under four weeks ago,’ Hearn said.
‘They’ve obviously heard that we are likely to fight Alexander Povetkin in September so I don’t know whether this was panic or bluster.
‘Obviously we have lost a lot of time and a September for fight with Wilder in terms of venue, US TV and for pure promotional build, is impossible really.
‘If it is Wilder next, it has to probably be October or November. We are running out of time.
‘Our guys will be working on the contract and they will certainly have it by the end of the week, probably before. We will then find out what is real.
‘It makes me sceptical because of the way they are handling this. We are not looking to have anything in that contract out of the ordinary.’
Joshua has sold out three stadiums for his last three fights, but Hearn said the only venue where the Wilder-AJ fight could be held was Wembley.
The 28-year-old became the WBA (Super) and IBF champion at Wembley in April 2017, and went on to win the WBO strap in Cardiff earlier this year.
Should Wilder and Joshua go to war, it will be the first time a heavyweight champion could own all four major world titles.
