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ESPN staff
Deontay Wilder has taunted Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua, as a potential heavyweight unification fight between the two is yet to be confirmed.
In a video posted on social media, Wilder insisted he called Hearn’s and Joshua’s bluff when the American offered $50 million to face Anthony Joshua to fight to unify the heavyweight belts.
While Wilder agreed to terms offered by Joshua’s camp last Monday, to fight in the United Kingdom — with Shelly Finkel stating that the target date was Sept. 15, Hearn insisted on Thursday that due to the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin fight happening on the same night, the likely date for the heavyweight bout would be in October or November.
That has led Wilder firing back a message to Hearn and Joshua — who previously said he would fight the American for $50 million — in which Wilder makes reference to calling their bluff regarding the $50 million offer.
“Guess what?” the subtitled video begins. “Eddie said: ‘Tell them you’ll take $50 million to fight and their team will for sure back out and we will stay relevant because $50m, they can’t cope with that.”
“Deontay and [his] team agreed to pay and presented the money. The look on Eddie’s face though. Priceless. Just priceless.
“Guess what? They turned down the money. They made another excuse. Tell me … Tell me. How the hell do you say no to $50m cash?”
The drawn-out negotiations have threatened to lead to Joshua fighting [mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin first, which would see Wilder face the Briton afterward.