Joseph Parker and his promoter, David Higgins of Duco Events, believe that Anthony Joshua is “refusing to compromise” as the two heavyweights attempt to face each other.
A unification clash has been on the cards for a while now but the roadblock is the money. Parker has said he is happy to take a 65/35 split, in favour of Joshua, but according to Higgins, the British Heavyweight champion and promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom boxing are not willing to drop as low as 65%.
When speaking to Sky Sports, Higgins said, “We started at what we thought was a fair ratio, and then a concession was given on our side. The truth is we were getting pretty close, and then there was talk of me going to London, but I made it clear I won’t unless there was a concession on the Joshua side.”
“Frankly we thought there would be, but no, it’s been signalled there won’t be. As far as we’re concerned, that’s it for now. I won’t be boarding a plane until we are closer.”
When asked if a resolution was possible, Higgins replied, “As it stands, AJ is refusing to compromise and has drawn a line in the sand that we think is unreasonable. It’s not worth me coming to London.”
Joshua recently spoke about becoming like Roger Federer in boxing and Higgins mocked the champion’s words.
“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? Can you imagine Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis dodging unification because 65 per cent of profit is not enough?”
“Joshua, if he wants to be taken seriously, and he wants to put himself in the same sentence as Ali or George Foreman or Federer, has to prove he’s a man of his word, and to date he’s all hot air. We’re losing patience.”
With Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder awaiting the Champion, Joshua needs to get in the ring with the New Zealander to get ready for one of, if not both, fighters in the latter of 2018.
