Anthony Joshua tells heavyweight rival Deontay Wilder to ‘stop the fantasy’ in super fight negotiations
Briton says American will need to cross the Atlantic to fight him if he wishes to pursue a unification bout
Should such a bout between British boxer Joshua, the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association title-holder and American rival Wilder, the World Boxing Council champion, take place it could be one of the richest in history.
However, 2012 Olympic champion Joshua said the brash Wilder needs to accept the Briton has greater spectator appeal in the United Kingdom than the American does in the States, and so should be the one to cross the Atlantic for any unification bout.
“If he was serious about the fight, we’d do serious negotiation,” Joshua said on Wednesday. “If not, (he should) stop hooting and hollering because we’ll just freeze him out.
Joshua added: “I know where I am going with my career. If he wants to be a part of this and jump on the train and come to the UK, he has to be realistic and stop living the fantasy. That is all we are saying, be realistic in negotiations.
“What we’ve got to offer is going to be 10 times more in terms of financials – because that’s what it comes down to – than he’s looking at in America.
“If he offered me 10 times more money to fight than what I am looking at in the UK, I would go there to fight him. But he is coming here. We are doing the offering, he hasn’t offered us. Take it or leave it.”
“I’d love to sit down and talk with him,” said Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn of a possible meeting with Wilder.
“There’s a lot of bluster with Deontay but he’s not an idiot,” said Hearn.
“He knows what he’s doing and he’s doing a good job in attracting people to fights, but I think this fight will be made a lot quicker than people think. I believe it will be in 2018.”