Eddie Hearn has revealed that Deontay Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel, has responded to his Anthony Joshua fight offer via email. Hearn told reporters in August that he had sent his own email to Finkel regarding a ‘big money offer’ but had received no response.
Now, the Matchroom Boxing chief has disclosed that he received a one-line email back from Finkel querying the financial side of the deal.
Speaking to iD Boxing in Abu Dhabi ahead of Dmitry Bivol vs Zurdo Ramirez, he said: “They actually emailed me today. I emailed him in August to talk about an offer. He came back today; it took a long while but at least he replied.
“That offer that we had for him was for this year, obviously, with our relationship out here, we’d like to continue that offer [for the Middle East]. I actually invited Deontay and Shelly out here this week. They can’t come but we’ll be working with them and try and come up with some ideas.
Wilder vs Joshua has been talked about since both men became world champions in 2015 and 2016 but is yet to make it off the negotiation table. In 2018, the fight reached advanced talks, but drawn-out conversations dimmed the flame.
Instead, Joshua went on to fight Alexander Povetkin while Wilder kicked off his iconic trilogy with Tyson Fury. Joshua is expected to return to the ring in early 2023 with Dillian Whyte coined as the ‘frontrunner’ by Hearn.
Hearn says that the Wilder discussions are ‘positive’ and he hopes to make it happen in the Middle East in 2023. However, he is not getting carried away.
When asked if Wilder is now the ‘frontrunner’ for the Joshua fight, Hearn responded: “Nah, literally it was a one-line email but look it’s positive and I think Deontay’s going to want the biggest fights out there and he knows that’s AJ and AJ has always wanted the Deontay Wilder fight so hopefully we can see it in 2023.”