Joshua driven by greed and fear: Higgins
Joseph Parker’s promoter claims Anthony Joshua’s ‘‘fear and greed’’ are stalling a heavyweight unification fight.
The deal is agonisingly close to being done but both camps are holding their ground over the final percentage splits required to get it across the line.
Parker, the WBO champion, is willing to give Joshua, the WBA and IBF champion, 65 per cent of the profits and a rematch clause for a fight they are trying to arrange for next April in Europe.
Parker’s boss David Higgins launched another strong attack on Joshua on Wednesday, coming rapidly on top of questioning the big Brit’s sincerity about actually wanting to fight the Kiwi.
‘‘It’s all about fear and greed,’’ Higgins told British outfit PSB Sports.
‘‘Joshua is driven by fear and greed. He is scared that Joseph Parker will break his glass jaw ... that’s the fear. And he wants a bigger percentage of the pie that is fair, and that’s the greed kicking in.
‘‘So Anthony Joshua’s fear and greed are what’s stopping the unification happening.’’
Higgins said Joshua had ‘‘drawn a line in the sand and won’t move’’ in terms of the money split for the fight.
Asked what Parker thought about the negotiations dragging on, Higgins said: ‘‘Joseph is a very patient man. He’s not desperate for money but he does want to unify. He’s also a principled man who believes in what is fair and reasonable.’’
‘‘Joshua is a bubble of hype and the sooner he steps up to fight Joseph Parker we are sure that bubble will burst,’’ Higgins said.
He suggested if unification deals couldn’t be agreed the Joshua camp would go for a low voluntary fight and offer the opponent 10 per cent and ‘‘try to keep it quiet’’.
Higgins earlier told Stuff : ‘‘No developments ... stalemate.’’
That meant he was in no rush to fly to London to get the fight across the line unless Joshua and his promoter Eddie Hearn were willing to compromise further.
‘‘As far as we’re concerned, that’s it for now. I won’t be boarding a plane until we are closer,’’ Higgins told Sky Sports in the UK.
‘‘Higgins went on the attack against Joshua’s claims that he wants to become the undisputed world champion while also trying to achieve a legacy in boxing the way Roger Federer had done in tennis.
‘‘If Anthony says he wants to be the Roger Federer of boxing, can you imagine Roger Federer saying I want to win all the Grand Slams, but I won’t play Wimbledon unless I get an extra three per cent?’’ Higgins asked.
‘‘Can you imagine Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis dodging unification because 65 per cent of profit is not enough? The hallmarks of the greats is they fought the best and they didn’t quibble over the money.’’
Parker has a viable alternative in a trans-Tasman clash with rugged Australian heavyweight Lucas Browne that should prove a decent money-spinner and keep him busy for what must be an inevitable unification fight at some stage.