Deontay Wilder has insisted a unification showdown with Anthony Joshua will go ahead this year, if Eddie Hearn allows the fight to happen, Metro reports.
Hearn said this week Wilder was the one holding up talks between both camps, as the American was insisting the fight should be staged in the USA.
Joshua is desperate to bring a historic fight to the UK and Hearn has confirmed their camp is insisting the bout should happen in Great Britain.
Wilder has dismissed Hearn’s ultimatum and assured boxing fans he is doing all he can to ensure the fight goes ahead this year.
“If we have it (the fight) in England, it’ll be September but if it’s here in America then it’ll be November,” Wilder told Fight Hub TV.
“We’re still in negotiations so I don’t have a time frame on it just yet but I want to let everybody to know the fight will happen.
“If they’re still serious, we’ve been serious this whole way through, Joshua said he wanted the $50m and he’d sign.
“We did exactly what he said and he didn’t sign so that shows you his character already or his team’s character.
“I think Joshua wants to fight but I don’t think his team want to risk what they’ve invested. Their investment is about to go and they know it.”
Hearn has suggested Wilder is reluctant to face Joshua in his backyard and said if the WBC champion continued to stonewall negotiations then AJ would step in with mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin next. ‘We are probably about two weeks away from a decision on AJ’s next fight. September has been earmarked for his return and all focus remains on Deontay Wilder,’ Hearn said.
AJ and the team believe that after everything that’s been built here, the UK should be the home of this historic undisputed bout and conversations continue with the Wilder camp.
They said, “Povetkin is the likely choice if Wilder refuses to travel. Povetkin is the WBA mandatory so both fights are extremely dangerous. A Wilder fight in the US stands as Joshua’s most lucrative option, but he is willing to accept a lesser payday for home advantage.”
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