Parker vs Joshua, Instead of What's a fair split?
Team Parker accuse Anthony Joshua of being 'all hot air' as unification talks reach stalemate

Anthony Joshua is maintaining a hard line over what he believes his share of a unification fight with Joseph Parker should be.

Joseph Parker's promoter has questioned Anthony Joshua's sincerity as negotiations for a heavyweight unification fight stall.

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.

"No developments ... stalemate," was Duco Events boss David Higgins' reply to Stuff for a now daily update on developments.

Duco Events boss David Higgins is staunchly holding out for what he believes is a fair deal for his WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.

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.

But it seems Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, still won't give up that big a slice of the pie and that has left Higgins sitting in New Zealand rather than rushing to London to sign off what would be a career-changing fight for the Kiwi outfit.

"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 on Wednesday (NZT), expressing his frustration at a lack of concession from the Joshua camp.

"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."

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 told Sky Sports.

"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."

Joshua's handlers are finding it even harder to get a unification deal with WBC champion Deontay Wilder through the ropes.

American Wilder is adamant he is worth 50 per cent of the profits but Hearn strongly believes Joshua brings the bulk of the interest - and money - to the table.

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.

- Stuff
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RE: Parker vs Joshua, Instead of What's a fair split? - diehard - 12-06-2017, 09:51 AM

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