Deontay Wilder really let Anthony Joshua have it on Monday for his decision to demand their unification fight take place in the UK instead of the U.S and failing to agree to the terms of the $50 million offer. Wilder Let Joshua know that he sees him as a phony, a guy talks brave, but who doesn’t walk the talk.
You can understand why Wilder is so upset. Joshua said he wanted $50 million, and when Wilder’s team gave him exactly what he asked for, he’s now asking for more, as if he’s the money man instead of Deontay’s team. Joshua doesn’t know his place and now he appears to be ready to walk away from the fight unless he gets his way in getting home advantage in the UK. Wilder has a right to be steaming mad. Joshua made the mistake of letting the media know that he would take the fight with Wilder straightaway if they offered him $50 million smackers. Now that they’ve offered the money to him, Joshua is changing his stance and looking silly – and VERY afraid. It looks like Joshua has got cold feet after he was given exactly what he asked for with the $50M.
The $50 million offer from Wilder’s is said to be legitimate and should have been enough for him to be able to get Joshua to agree to the terms of the deal, which is for him to come to the U.S to fight him. However, Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) doesn’t want to fight in the U.S, saying that he “owes” it to his British boxing fans to have the fight with WBC heavyweight knockout artist Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) to be staged in the UK. Wilder sees it as a weak move on Joshua’s part, and further proof that he’s shivering and afraid to step outside of his own soil to fight him in American where he can earn his $50 million guaranteed offer the hard way.
”You see people talk the “G🤑🤑D” talk but are not prepared to walk thru the valley of the shadow of Death,” Wilder said about Joshua on social media. ”To come and get it. He said he once went to hell and back and he enjoyed it. Ni, Either the devil wasn’t there or “HE LYIN.”
Eddie Hearn offered Wilder a small $12.5 million flat fee for the Joshua fight. Wilder’s team came back with some real money in offering Joshua $50 million, which shocked Hearn to his boots. He didn’t believe it and told anyone that would listen that he suspected the money wasn’t legit. When it turned out to be a real offer, then suddenly AJ said he wanted the fight to be staged in the UK. That’s something you can only demand when you’re the A-side, and that’s simply not the case for this fight. Wilder’s team came up with the $50 million, so the only thing Joshua can do is take the fight wherever they want it if he wants to get the money. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Wilder gave Joshua what he asked for so there’s no point in discussing anything else other than, ‘Where do you want the fight to be staged, Mr. Wilder?’ Joshua needs to take the high road and agree to wherever Wilder wants the fight to take place, because he’s the guy that’s come up money. Personally, I don’t see what the problem is. Joshua needs to come to Vegas to fight Wilder if that’s where his team wants it. If Joshua isn’t good enough to beat Wilder, then that’s just the way it is.
With his demands to have the fight staged in the UK, Joshua is effectively moving the goal posts back so that Wilder can’t get the fight. At this point I think it’s painfully obvious that Joshua doesn’t want the fight. You’ve got to feel sorry for Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, because he’s left hanging in the win, stuttering and trying to explain AJ’s reasons for not accepting the terms of the deal. Maybe Joshua, 28, will want the fight against Wilder at some later point in time, but right now it just doesn’t look like he fancies the fight. Maybe it’ll take a loss for Joshua against one of the guys that Hearn matches him against before he finally decides he wants the Wilder fight. Of course, once Joshua gets beaten by someone, then the terms for the fight will change dramatically. There will be no point for Wilder to offer Joshua $50 million if Joshua gets beaten by Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller, Dillian Whyte or Alexander Povetkin.
I get the feeling that Joshua never expected Wilder’s team to come up with the $50 million that he was asking for to fight him. Now that they’ve offered it, Joshua is come up with another demand which only works when your promoter is the one coming up with the green stuff for the fight. Joshua is completely out of place demanding the Wilder fight take place in the UK when it’s Deontay’s team that is coming up with the money. Wilder’s management met Joshua’s demands, so he should agree to wherever they want the fight to take place. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, and Joshua is trying to flip the scrip. Why should Wilder’s team come up with the money and still must fight in the UK? It doesn’t make sense. The only way this makes sense is if you come at it from the angle that Joshua doesn’t really want the fight, so he’s decided to annoy the heck out of Wilder’s team to make them so angry they’ll soon walk away once they realize that he’s just playing games.
One gets the sense that Joshua has become absolutely spoiled since turning pro in 2013. He’s so used to getting his way in the negotiations that he doesn’t know how to show gratitude when the other side is the one that comes up with the money to feed him. Joshua doesn’t seem to realize where the money is coming from. He’s acting like the money is still coming from his side rather than Wilder’s side.
It’s believed that the Joshua vs. Wilder fight will make more money in the U.S than in the UK, because the ticket prices. The fight will obviously sellout Wembley Stadium in London and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, but the ticket prices are more expensive in America and that’s where the fight can make huge money at Madison Square Garden in New York or the Barclays Center.
It’s hard to imagine Joshua turning down $50 million to fight Wilder, but it looks like that’s the case. Wilder’s team has offered AJ exactly what he was asking for, and now it looks like he’s still not happy. If Wilder agrees to letting Joshua have the $50 million guarantee and then he say he’ll fight him in the UK, will AJ still take the fight or will he come up with another excuse?
”So, “You can go to hell and back” and enjoy it, but can’t come and get this money in dat bag to store it. Now these are Just my thoughts 🤷🏿♂️ maybe yours too, but shid, you can tag him. #ImEating🥩”
Wilder just destroyed Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (28-1, 24 KOs) by a 10th round knockout on March 3 and showed what he could do against what could be the second best heavyweight in the division. This is the same Ortiz that Joshua chose not to fight. A lot of boxing fans thought Joshua royally ducked Ortiz. When Joshua had the chance to fight Ortiz, he chose to fight Dominic Breazeale and Eric Molina. Why would Joshua fight those two when he had Ortiz right there? I think a lot of fans will agree that there was some fear involved with his decision not to take the fight with the Cuban talent. Hearn and Joshua left the challenging work to Wilder, who took care of business in stopping him.