AJ vs Wilder
#1
Might as well start this thread.

Hearn: Wilder's Team Selling Him Dream of Upside That Doesn't Exist


By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Eddie Hearn senses Deontay Wilder is comfortable with his team assuring Anthony Joshua a $50 million payday for their fight because they’ve convinced Wilder that he’ll make plenty of money from the overall revenue generated by the event.
The problem for Wilder, according to Hearn, is Hearn’s estimates of the worth of their huge heavyweight title unification could leave the unbeaten WBC champion with less than the $12.5 million guarantee Hearn offered Wilder earlier this month. Hearn’s obligation, of course, is to make Joshua as much money as possible for that dangerous bout between unbeaten knockout artists.
Wilder’s handlers would argue Hearn shouldn’t be the least bit concerned with Wilder’s guarantee or how he’ll maximize his earnings from facing Joshua.
[Image: deontay-wilder%20(1)_8.jpg]
Nevertheless, among the reasons Joshua’s promoter wants to meet with Al Haymon, Wilder’s adviser, and Shelly Finkel, Wilder’s co-manager, is Hearn wants to learn the contractual terms that have convinced Wilder’s team that Joshua-Wilder is a more valuable event than Hearn envisions.
“My worry is Deontay Wilder,” Hearn said Thursday while promoting a card headlined by middleweights Daniel Jacobs and Maciej Sulecki on Saturday night in Brooklyn. “So what’s the deal they’ve offered Deontay Wilder? This fight, in my opinion, in England generates, conservatively, $40 million to $50 million. In America, perhaps $45-$50 [million] to $60-$65 [million]. I wouldn’t like to put guarantees on it. They might be doing it.
“They might be taking a run at it, and say to Deontay – because it’s [a] 50-50 [split] beyond $100 million, maybe they’ve said to Deontay, ‘Yeah, but if it does $120 [million] or it if does $100 [million], you get $50 [million].’ It won’t do $100 [million]. But what if it does $55 [million]? What does Deontay get, $5 [million]? What if it does $60 [million]? Does he get $10 [million]? What they have to do with Deontay is they have to give him a minimum guarantee and sell him the dream of the upside, which probably don’t exist.”
The upside to which Hearn referred largely would come from potential pay-per-view revenue Joshua-Wilder could generate. Despite intense interest from fans and media in their fight, neither Joshua nor Wilder has headlined a pay-per-view event in the United States.
Regardless of what Wilder’s team thinks the fight is worth, Hearn won’t consider agreeing to a deal until he can meet with Haymon and Finkel to discuss details of their offer for England’s Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) to battle Alabama’s Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs).
“I have to see a contract,” Hearn said. “It’s not even really the money. We don’t want to be involved in a show where you have to try and achieve the money. So what I’m saying is, if they need to get $50 million to show me, they could do it very easily. They can go and raise the finances from a bank. You can do anything you want. But it’s not say a situation of, ‘Where’s the fight? Oh, we’ll let you know.’ And then go out and say to Barclays or to MGM or to Abu Dhabi or to Saudi Arabia, ‘Who wants Anthony Joshua?’ They don’t have the right to do that.
“So we’d prefer it to go, ‘All right, it’s MGM, Las Vegas.’ They don’t even have to give us a date. It could be October. ‘These are the broadcasters. All right, you’ve got your broadcasters that you’re involved with. That’s fine. This is how the media tour will work. These are your obligations.’ That’s how you start conversations. Not, ‘Here’s $50 million. Do you agree or not? You’ve got 24 hours. Go!’ ”
Hearn realizes that Joshua would have to fight outside of the United Kingdom for the first time if he were to accept the $50 million guarantee from Wilder’s handlers. While Hearn would prefer for their fight to take place in the UK, where Joshua is a superstar and has drawn crowds in excess of 78,000 three times, that’s a concession he is willing to make for Joshua to earn more than double what he has made for a single fight thus far.
There are other potential details that concern Hearn, though.
“I think it’s a massive fight, but there’s ways to generate the numbers that you or your fighter or client wouldn’t want you to do,” Hearn said. “I’ll give you an example. Maybe I can get $80 million from Saudi Arabia to take this fight there. Do I want to do the fight over there? Not particularly. Does Anthony? No. Maybe I could get a sponsorship of $15 million from a new virtual currency that might be a bit dodgy. Do I wanna have my fighter associated with that brand? No, I do not, regardless of the money.
“So maybe they wanna charge $100,000 for a seat in the front row. Do I wanna be involved with that? No, I don’t. So it’s about protecting our business, Anthony Joshua’s brand and all the things that we’ve dealt with along the way. And until we know how they intend to raise that finance, we can’t even begin to make decisions.”
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#2
I have always thought AJ wants the fight Eddie doesn't
He wants AJ to fight at least 2 more years in the UK drawing crowds making 10-15 mil a pop
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#3
(04-28-2018, 12:38 PM)bart Wrote: I have always thought AJ wants the fight Eddie doesn't
He wants AJ to fight at least 2 more years in the UK drawing crowds making 10-15 mil a pop

That's the way I see it too. It's a shame because it looks like we'll see Wilder v Breazeale and AJ v Povetkin/Miller next.
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#4
They'll get it made at the end of the year. Too much money to be made.
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#5
Team Wilder want the fight as for them it's their only way of making big $$$. Its actually shocking how badly they have done at promoting Wilder, he has everything needed to be a big star in the biggest market in the world. As he turns 33 soon it's also time to make that fight NOW ........... For them

Team Joshua on the other hand are not in a rush, they can keep making good money without needing that risk. 50m is a great offer, but they can make that out of 2-3 less risky fights. David Haye may be an option in a weeks time, Dillian Whyte is marketable again, Tyson Fury is looming. And for them, waiting until Wilder is 34-35 only benefits them

We all want the fight now, but in my opinion it doesn't happen this year, UNLESS Brezeale does a LOT better than expected in which case they might think the Ortiz round 7 beating diminished Wilder.

Hearn is a businessman through and through, Joshua is his bread and butter, no way he rolls the dice on a gamble he doesn't need to take.
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#6
Also Wilder’s team haven’t got $50m to spend, according to Eddie it was just a PR stunt
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#7
(05-01-2018, 01:17 AM)tm7 Wrote: Also Wilder’s team haven’t got $50m to spend, according to Eddie it was just a PR stunt

This is the thing.  It's ok saying, I'll give you $50mil but where is that coming from.  Wilder and AJ have NEVER done a PPV in the US. Ever.  And it will need the US market to get anywhere near those figures. 

You go to a bank and apply for a mortgage they look at your financials.  Your history.  Same with putting on an event.  Wilder has made $2mil tops from one fight.  Never done PPV.  Yet he can offer AJ $50mil, and presumably $50mil for himself.  What in Wilder's history suggests he can make a $100mil PPV event?  They're living in a dream world.  The best part is it's not Wilder who can generate the money anyway!  He's doing it off AJ's name.  He fights anyone else and he's back to $1-2 mil a fight.  AJ fights Fury, Haye, Whyte and he's still making big money. 

Wilder's team are complete amateurs. 
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#8
(05-02-2018, 04:35 AM)U.K. Fight Fan Wrote:
(05-01-2018, 01:17 AM)tm7 Wrote: Also Wilder’s team haven’t got $50m to spend, according to Eddie it was just a PR stunt

This is the thing.  It's ok saying, I'll give you $50mil but where is that coming from.  Wilder and AJ have NEVER done a PPV in the US. Ever.  And it will need the US market to get anywhere near those figures. 

You go to a bank and apply for a mortgage they look at your financials.  Your history.  Same with putting on an event.  Wilder has made $2mil tops from one fight.  Never done PPV.  Yet he can offer AJ $50mil, and presumably $50mil for himself.  What in Wilder's history suggests he can make a $100mil PPV event?  They're living in a dream world.  The best part is it's not Wilder who can generate the money anyway!  He's doing it off AJ's name.  He fights anyone else and he's back to $1-2 mil a fight.  AJ fights Fury, Haye, Whyte and he's still making big money. 

Wilder's team are complete amateurs. 

If you think Al Haymon is an amateur then you need to do some research my son. I dont believe either team really wants this fight right now another year or two of hype and it might get the numbers they are hoping for. I dont think this fight goes ahead unless Hearn/AJ are in control its obvious being in control of the promotion is more important then the money for them.
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#9
(05-02-2018, 10:37 AM)Beefstew Wrote:
(05-02-2018, 04:35 AM)U.K. Fight Fan Wrote:
(05-01-2018, 01:17 AM)tm7 Wrote: Also Wilder’s team haven’t got $50m to spend, according to Eddie it was just a PR stunt

This is the thing.  It's ok saying, I'll give you $50mil but where is that coming from.  Wilder and AJ have NEVER done a PPV in the US. Ever.  And it will need the US market to get anywhere near those figures. 

You go to a bank and apply for a mortgage they look at your financials.  Your history.  Same with putting on an event.  Wilder has made $2mil tops from one fight.  Never done PPV.  Yet he can offer AJ $50mil, and presumably $50mil for himself.  What in Wilder's history suggests he can make a $100mil PPV event?  They're living in a dream world.  The best part is it's not Wilder who can generate the money anyway!  He's doing it off AJ's name.  He fights anyone else and he's back to $1-2 mil a fight.  AJ fights Fury, Haye, Whyte and he's still making big money. 

Wilder's team are complete amateurs. 

If you think Al Haymon is an amateur then you need to do some research my son. I dont believe either team really wants this fight right now another year or two of hype and it might get the numbers they are hoping for. I dont think this fight goes ahead unless Hearn/AJ are in control its obvious being in control of the promotion is more important then the money for them.

Haymon is useless.  He swooped up a load of fighters, who now only fight once a year.  His PBC model is failing.   He's just a pencil pusher who has tried to get around the Ali act.  Fighters have already started to leave him eg Danny Jacobs.  Which one of his fighters has he been successful in promoting?  He has a American HW champion who hits like a truck and is undefeated, yet nobody knows who he is in his own country.  

Enlighten me Beefy?

As for Lou Dibella, Finkel and Wilder...yeah they are the definition of professionalism. 
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#10
Dibella is an alcolholic, winkle is senile and as for uncle AL, yes he played parts in making the floyd fights but he has been taking serious L's lately with his failed PBC model which has cost in the 100s of millions to very little return so it IS questionable if he can deliver on this 50 million because frankly if i was one of his financiers i WOULDNT lend him the money for an unproven commodity in Wilder
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