Anthony Joshua versus Joseph Parker will the first of hopefully many big heavyweight boxing fights of 2018.
It’s no secret that negotiations between both parties have been all but calm and discreet. Parker’s promoter infamously held a press conference mocking Joshua’s chin and the WBO champion himself has been lashing out at ‘AJ’ on Twitter.
.@anthonyfjoshua 65% & rematch not enough to unify? Believe your own hype? Bubble's gonna burst bro #BigGlassRobot@eddiehearn @d_higgins_duco #NeverBeenDroppedpic.twitter.com/HYVAVAtFj8
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) December 7, 2017
Promoter Eddie Hearn admitted that Team Parker is pushing the right buttons and a deal could be done before the year ends.
“I spoke to David Higgins last night and for all his craziness, he knows what he’s doing. There’s a method to the madness. We’re close, we’re not there. We’ve made some concessions now on our side, which we don’t think we should of, but we have. And they have made some concessions that they don’t they should of but they have. It’s the fight to be made next. I’m hoping before Christmas we can get that over the line,” told Hearn to Boxing Social.
But Hearn also had a few words to say about Parker’s value as a boxer.
The reported split that Higgins wants for Parker is 35 per cent and 65 for Joshua. Hearn says that is not the right deal to make.
“Not for me, it’s not [the right split]. You have to look at what Joseph Parker brings to the fight beyond Carlos Takam. He brings the belt but what revenue does he bring? When we boxed Klitschko [Wladimir], he brought world wide tv, he brought German tv, millions of euros. When we fight Wilder [Deontay] that will bring the opportunity of U.S pay-per-view, he [Wilder] won’t bring it, but that fight will bring it,” said Hearn.
According to the promoter, he wouldn’t be doing his job if he gets Joshua a deal that he thinks is not right.
“Joseph Parker brings about half a million dollars of New Zealand tv, but we have to respect him because he’s a belt holder. We want the fight. Joshua will probably make the same or less in a fight with Parker than he did with Takam. Now how does that make sense? Well it makes sense because we want the belt. We want to unify. It’s not about the money but it’s my job to make sure that we get the right deal. Joshua wants the fight. Of course he wants to get paid as much money as possible but my job is to make the right decisions and the right calls and he puts his trust in me to do that. I’m not doing my job if I don’t deliver a deal that I don’t think is right,”
However, in order to make this fight happen, Hearn understands that they might have ‘sign a deal that’s not right’.
“But at the same time we have to realise that if we want the fight, we have to sign a deal that’s not right. That’s just how it is. We are prepared to do it. We are already at that point. I don’t think the deal’s right but we want that belt,” admitted Hearn.
The fact is, Parker is very much a big part of Joshua’s plans for 2018. With a victory over the New Zealander and gaining another World heavyweight belt, Joshua and Hearn get more leverage in the Wilder fight talks. The American recently demanded a 50-50 split, but with Joshua potentially holding the WBA, WBO, IBF & IBO belts, an even split seems highly unlikely.
“Sometimes you don’t get the opportunity to unify and this is an opportunity and we believe we can win the fight. And if we do, we are one belt away from being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. That’s the ultimate goal,” summarised Hearn.
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