Anthony Joshua puts offer on table to fight Deontay Wilder next… but Eddie Hearn hasn’t heard back from his team yet
EDDIE HEARN has revealed he was left in the lurch by Deontay Wilder’s team after making a fresh approach to them over a grudge match with Anthony Joshua.
A blockbuster undisputed title fight between the pair failed to come to fruition in 2018 when both men had their hands on all the heavyweight belts.
The failed talks left a sour taste in the mouths of both fighters and their promoters, although Hearn recently reached out to Team Wilder to try to gauge their interest in a potential fight.
The Matchroom Boxing chief told SecondsOut: “I actually reached out to Shelly Finkel the other day.
“Because I have got so much money for Deontay Wilder in an offer, but they never come back to me
“I don’t know whether Deontay Wilder doesn’t wanna hear about that offer or whatever.”
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Joshua, 32, will be back in action on Saturday night in a do-or-die rematch with Oleksandr Usyk for all but one of the heavyweight belts.
AJ vs Usyk 2 confirmed fight time, TV and live stream info for Saturday’s blockbuster
And Hearn believes a shootout with Wilder could be in the offing if the Brit loses his Saudi showdown with the slick southpaw.
He continued: “But right now as I stand here, I’m honestly not thinking about any other fight for AJ than Saturday night.
“They all come through victory. I think if he loses, the Wilder fight is there.
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“If he wins, all he’s thinking about is that final fight with Fury to win all the belts.”
Former WBC heavyweight champ Wilder will be back in action on October 15 against ex-sparring partner Robert Helenius.
The fight will be the American’s first since he was brutally knocked out in the penultimate round of his trilogy fight with Tyson Fury last October.
He said: “It’s been a long journey for me and as of today it continues. I
” thought so many times about whether I should stay out of the business or come back.
“Once I got my statue in my hometown and saw so many people arrive and celebrate with me and my family, to see all the emotions, grown men crying in front of their children and saying he is a real true king, made me feel like my job is not done.
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“So, here I am once again, looking forward to returning to the ring.
“I am looking forward to coming to Barclays Center, a place where I have had my most devastating knockouts and a place I consider my second home.”