Nigerian/British boxer, Anthony Joshua has disclosed the reason he turned down a £40m fight with Deontay Wilder
There had been talks about the two champions facing off with Joshua having the chance to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, but this was scuppered due to contractual issues.
The two parties tried to come to an agreement, but it failed to materialize.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever really had issues on the financial side with a fighter.” the charismatic boxer said to iFL TV
“So, let’s say that 50 million we talked about. Listen, it’s a hell of a lot of money and it was an honour to even have that number thrown at me!
“But then when you dissected it and what it actually it was, it was kind of like a rights fee – ‘We own you for this amount of money’.
READ: You’re Not Nigerian- Deontay Wilder Taunts Champion Anthony Joshua
“The issue I had was that I’ve got long-standing contracts in place with certain partnerships. So you may put that money forward and think that you own me 100 per cent but you may only own 50 per cent so that makes their 50 per cent worth 25 per cent.
“So when you start getting into the intricacies of a contract and what the real value is, that’s when that starts taking place.
“So the $50m (£40m) was unbelievable, it’s a great number, but there are things in place that don’t make that $50m worth it to the person paying it.”
While we might not get the Wilder fight we wanted, there is a possibility that he could be facing off against Bronze Bomber next year.
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