DAVID HIGGINS is by no means a typical boxing promoter. No one before has managed to gatecrash, and be ejected from, their own press conference. Conducting a video presentation on Anthony Joshuaโs alleged โglass jawโ was also a left-field move. But ultimately he ended up getting his man, Joseph Parker in the ring with Joshua in front of an 80,000 seat stadium and on a blockbuster pay-per-view broadcast. And Higgins points out that Deontay Wilder needs to learn something from his approach.
For, despite these hijinks, Higgins was very aware of something. โLetโs be honest, Joshuaโs the A-side, heโs a commercial juggernaut, heโs the only man in boxing whoโs regularly filling 80,000 seat stadiums. Him and Eddie Hearn have built that. Whoโs Wilder to want 50 percent when he hasnโt even sold out his hometown arena? We wanted a good deal and we got a deal but we were also mindful of not being so greedy that they couldnโt do the deal. And thatโs whatโs happening with Wilder. Itโs not Joshua dodging Wilder, itโs that the Wilder side are so outrageously cynical and greedy that theyโre killing the deal,โ the New Zealander tells Boxing News.
He believes that Wilder most likely will fight Joshua next year, because if he doesnโt the winner of Joseph Parker versus Dillian Whyte (who box this Saturday on Sky Sports Box Office) will be there, waiting in the wings for the biggest star in boxing.
โOf course itโll happen. Itโs [Wilderโs] first big payday. Itโll happen when his expectations come back down to earth. Until then, Eddie Hearn will keep calling his bluff. Why should they allow Wilder to take a pound of flesh more than he deserves when he hasnโt achieved half of what Joshua has and theyโve got other good options. If Joshua beats Povetkin, the winner of Parker-Whyte is a sitter, could be plugged straight into Wembley and sell Wembley out. So they donโt need Wilder. Iโd say Wilder and his team are almost risk averse. If they think theyโre going to beat Joshua, why do they need 50-50? Itโs almost like they see it as their one shot to grab as much money as possible,โ Higgins says.
Outside of Luis Ortiz, Higgins reckons Wilder has a โpadded recordโ. โThat fight [with Joshua] will happen and it will happen only when Wilderโs expectations come back down to earth,โ Higgins continued. โWhatโll happen is after [Alexander] Povetkin, if Joshua wins, if I was Eddie Hearn, Iโd engage with the Wilder people again. Iโd quickly find out are they realistic or not. Wilderโs going to worry that theyโre going to lose the opportunity altogether, so theyโll be under pressure. So thereโs a high chance Wilderโs people will take a haircut, pull their head in and make the fight, otherwise risk waiting another six months. That could well happen. And if they piss around again, then Eddie could easily call their bluff again and just make a deal with the winner of Whyte-Parker, itโs there as a sitter.
โEddie Hearn and Joshua are the A-side and they hold all the cards in the negotiation and the Wilder-Al Haymon-Shelly Finkel side will come under increasing pressure as time goes on. If I were Joshua and Eddie Hearn, Iโd ignore this rubbish about Joshua dodging Wilder, theyโre just using that to try to steal money off Joshua basically that they donโt deserve. Theyโre trying to steal money off Joshua that they donโt deserve.
โThey havenโt earned it, Joshua has.โ