Terms for Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder fight must be agreed soon, warns Eddie Hearn

TERMS for an Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder unification fight must be agreed by December if the American is to be his next opponent, insists Joshuaโ€™s promoter Eddie Hearn.

The WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion furthered his reputation with Saturdayโ€™s clinical seventh-round stoppage of Russian Alexander Povetkin at Wembley, where he is already scheduled to fight again on April 13.

Joshua has repeatedly said that Wilder would be his chosen opponent, even with the WBC champion scheduled to fight Tyson Fury in America on December 1.

Previous negotiations for a lucrative fight between them for all four titles have ended in frustration, and Joshuaโ€™s domestic rival Dillian Whyte is on standby should they do so again, contributing to Hearnโ€™s demand that they are soon finalised.


Should Fury defeat Wilder, then the Americanโ€™s rematch clause with Fury would almost certainly be activated and regardless rule both fighters out.

The victory they expect for Wilder would also give Fury little immediate appeal, so Hearn said: โ€œBeing British, weโ€™d like Fury to win, but for April, Wilder must win if thatโ€™s going to happen.

โ€œWeโ€™re not willing to wait until December to see. A deal must be done in advance of that, subject to him winning. The offer that was made to us (previously, by the Wilder camp) will look like absolute peanuts when this fight is made.

โ€œThat is the biggest fight in boxing; Wilder-Fury is a really good fight to see whoโ€™s the second best heavyweight in the world. Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko was the biggest fight in British boxing history, and Joshua-Wilder would eclipse that. We want that now.

โ€œWeโ€™re not waiting for timewasters; we understand if they lose weโ€™ll have to find another opponent, but if you win, weโ€™re not waiting until December. These arenโ€™t negotiations that will take 24 hours, and Joshuaโ€™s careerโ€™s not being slowed down. If they donโ€™t want to do that, weโ€™ll fight someone else.

โ€œTyson Fury is the least entertaining fighter Iโ€™ve ever seen. Heโ€™s never been in a good fight, apart from against Steve Cunningham (in 2013), when he got knocked down.โ€

The 28-year-old Joshua confirmed he had not broken his nose despite it bleeding heavily after Povetkin hurt him with a big left hand in the opening round.

Fury has already said on social media that Joshua will never fight him, and the champion added of Wilder: โ€œI donโ€™t want to wait until December. For him to finish his fight, have his rest and then start negotiating.

โ€œIโ€™ll start training again in early January, so I want to get it pencilled in as soon as possible, and those negotiations take a long time. If Wilderโ€™s not serious, thereโ€™s other people out there; when heโ€™s ready, weโ€™re ready.

โ€œGood luck to them both (Wilder and Fury) โ€“ boxing needs it. Iโ€™ve had the burden of the heavyweight division on my back for some years, because it was all about me fighting Wilder, Fury, Klitschko, Dillian, Povetkin. Thatโ€™s all they were interested in โ€“ me fighting them all.

โ€œSo Iโ€™m happy those two are fighting. April 13 is booked, so whichever heavyweight is serious, we can look at making a deal. I have no interest in who wins; Iโ€™m not fussed.โ€

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