Joseph Parker’s promoter David Higgins wasn’t kidding when he stated that they had ‘given up’ trying to get a fight against Anthony Joshua.
The WBO World heavyweight champion’s promoter was unhappy about Eddie Hearn’s offer which Higgins described as ‘insulting’.
“I got this weird email from Eddie’s email address, but he must have been hacked. He made the most ridiculously low offer. It could have been the most insulting offer in boxing history,” said Higgins to Sky Sports
This week Parker tweeted that the offer was half of what Matchroom paid Charles Martin in 2016 when Joshua fought the American for the IBF World heavyweight title.
.@anthonyfjoshua thanks for offering me less than half of what you paid Martin, to unify! Do you really want to fight? Make a serious offer #NeverBeenDropped @d_higgins_duco @EddieHearn
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) November 15, 2017
Higgins has now confirmed in an interview with ESPN that the fight is not happening at all in 2018 if Hearn doesn’t offer a better deal.
“Our position at the moment is that it’s not. The offer was very low. We’ve got other options which are more money and we are in the process of looking at them. We’re getting higher offers to fight people in other parts of the world. We are in a point now where we think Joshua won’t be next and that we will have to ride it out until common sense prevails,” confirmed the promoter.
The biggest issue is the offered split. Higgins is demanding at least 60-40.
“Our business when we put fights together, like when we put together the Jeff Horn vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, is to secure government and city investment. Similar to a fight like Parker vs. Joshua as it will bring in tens of thousands of fans and lots of visitors,” explained Higgins.
One other issue according to the promoter is Joshua taking all the revenue from the gate, pay-per-view, and sponsorship.
“The number that Eddie Hearn offered us is less than what we have secured from city and governments for previous boxing events. Assuming you would get city and government on board, effectively Joshua is trying to take all of the gate, all the pay-per-view and all the sponsorship and pay us less than the city investment value. We think 60-40 [split in favour of Joshua] is our bottom line,” he continued.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Hearn said he is willing to re-negotiate and make the fight happen.
Hearn wanted Team Parker to stop making claims on social media and ‘pick up the phone’.
“They haven’t even replied to my offer, other than via tweets. We are not interested in the he said, she said. If they want to make the fight, then they should come off social media and pick up the phone,” said Hearn.
Joshua’s promoter is willing to start again and wants to find a solution since they have made it very clear that they are interested in Parker and his WBO belt.
“I’m encouraging them to open dialogue to see if we can find middle ground. We have spoken [on Wednesday] and made our positions clear. There isn’t middle ground at the moment but that can change. This is a fight we want,” explained Hearn.
"Let's fight and prove who is the best in the world!"@joeboxerparker tells us he is ready to show just how good he is by taking on @anthonyfjoshua… 🥊🥊🥊 pic.twitter.com/sCKnWHbnhV
— talkSPORT Breakfast (@TSBreakfast) November 8, 2017
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