Earlier today I had the chance to speak to WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s co-manager and Hall of Famer Shelly Finkel who talked all things Joshua vs Wilder, the offer they received from Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn and much more.
This week it was widely reported that English boxing promoter Eddie Hearn offered Wilder a flat fee of $12.5 million to fight Anthony Joshua later this year.
When I brought this up to Shelly earlier today (who was enjoying a sunny day in New York he told me) – he brought up an interesting point that I hadn’t considered before.
Mostly in boxing it’s a split based business when it comes to the big fights.
In layman’s terms, that means one boxer gets a certain percentage of the total pot a fight generates- the other gets another percentage(50-50, 60-40 etc.).
Flat fees do occur from time to time in lower level boxing events – but hardly ever in a top-level bout. Certainly between two heavyweight world champions.
Shelly mentioned on the subject:
“If you were serious about the fight why would you offer a flat fee? Pretty much every major fight in history if you go back and look at the pay per view records, Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao, Gennady Golovkin vs Canelo Alvarez, Mike Tyson vs Lennox Lewis – they all were split-based deals between the two fighters at the time. So why all of a sudden is Eddie (Hearn) offering a flat fee? My job as a manager is to deliver for my client Deontay Wilder and I would never offer him a flat fee – as if the fight were to exceed expectations – there would be a lot of money left on the table that he potentially could miss out on.”
He added that Hearn could easily meet him in person the week after next when Matchroom Boxing USA put on their second American show that features Danny Jacobs, Katie Taylor and Jarrell Miller at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 28th:
“Look, if he really wants to make the fight why not say lets sit down and talk when you are in New York the week of the Danny Jacobs fight at the Barclays Center in New York?”
He added:
“I have nothing but respect for Joshua. I like Eddie and I absolutely adore his father Barry.”
One fight that has been mooted for Joshua in between a possible fight with Wilder is Alexander Povetkin.
Shelly thinks this is a very dangerous idea however in light of Povetkin’s big KO win recently over Liverpool’s David Price:
“I think that Joshua would beat Povetkin, but why take the risk, if your real goal is to unify the belts.”
Shelly finished by saying their counter offer will be sent shortly:
“We are preparing to send out counter offer this weekend. Lets see what he (Eddie) says.”
Lets hope boxing fans can see this world heavyweight unification fight sooner rather than later – in a bout that would see the winner hold every major world title in boxing and become undisputed heavyweight champion.
