Joshua offers Wilder £8.8m fight

Deontay Wilder has been offered a flat fee of £8.8 million to fight Anthony Joshua and unify the heavyweight division, with the American set to give his answer within the next 48 hours.

The Daily Telegraph understands that Joshua and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, have sent a contract to Wilder and his representatives but that it does not state the proposed fight’s date or location, or even whether it will be Joshua’s next fight.

Joshua, who added the WBO strap to his IBF, WBA and IBO titles with a victory over Joseph Parker 11 days ago in Cardiff, has claimed his team has submitted three offers to Wilder this week for a fight that would gross at least £60 million and possibly far more.

However, the American’s management team, through co-manager Shelly Finkel, refuted this yesterday, claiming that this is “the first offer”, which was a “flat fee with no place, date or venue, nor even whether it was the next fight”.

In what would effectively be a fee for Wilder and a huge payday for Joshua, the two teams will discuss a 50/50 split for a second contest between the pair, regardless of whether Joshua loses. The Briton’s split of the purse for his fight with Parker was 67/33.

A unification contest between the two unbeaten heavyweights has been estimated at being worth in the region of £75 million, doubling up to £150million for two meetings of the giant heavyweights.

The rematch clause permits 32-year-old Wilder a second fight to take place in the US following a stadium showdown likely at either Wembley or Cardiff ’s Principality Stadium.

Wilder’s camp have repeatedly stated they would be willing to fight Joshua in the UK for a 60/40 split in favour of the Briton.

“It was a take-it-or-leave-it offer,” Finkel told The Telegraph. “We will respond appropriately in the next day or so with our counter offer. If Joshua is serious, we will take the fight.

“Deontay wants this fight. He doesn’t want anyone else.”