Frank Warren told British radio on Wednesday that he hopes Deontay Wilder will accept no more than $20million dollars to step aside and let Anthony Joshua face Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world this summer.
The long-running saga surrounding the proposed, agreed and signed-in-principle superfight between the two British stars, who hold all of the major maximum-weight titles between them, took a huge turn this week just days after both sides had claimed August 14 in Saudi Arabia was set for the bout.
An arbitrator ruled in favour of Wilder's claim that the rematch clause in the wake of his only career defeat to Fury in February 2020, which saw the unbeaten giant hand the American his first pro loss and take his WBC title in the process, was in fact still valid despite Bob Arum's claims to the contrary, ordering said rematch to happen by September 15.
Given the pounding Wilder suffered in the loss — the second clash between he and Fury, with their first encounter ending in a draw — many expect him to use this ruling to hold Fury vs. Joshua up for a lucrative pay-off. The champs were reported to be making in the region of £100million for the huge clash at a big-money site fee, so the 'step-aside' money would likely be suitably large.
However Warren told BBC Radio that there is a ceiling to what Wilder can ask for, or else Fury's UK representative believes they will simply proceed with the trilogy fight anyway.
“It is really simple now: Tyson now either goes immediately to the fight with Deontay Wilder or we try to reach and accommodation with Wilder,” he explained.
“To use a phrase in boxing ‘step aside’ to allow the fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury fight to take place. I’m sure he’ll (Wilder) will want as much as possible but that is going to be about a negotiation if we go down that road.
“It will cost quite a bit of money. Until we reach an accommodation with Wilder’s people I can’t say the fight will definitely happen. But we are working hard to get that over the line. We were talking last night. If we can’t get it done Tyson will go to the fight with Wilder.
“They are the only two options. The arbitrator says that Tyson has a contractual commitment and he has to fulfill that. He is tied up legally. I expect common sense will prevail so we are going to try and make the fight between AJ and Tyson. That is the fight everyone wants to see.
“We are going to do our best to get it over the line. That is what everyone has been working towards for a long time now. There is a cut-off point one when a decision has to be made and which direction Tyson goes in. I hope Deontay will accept less than $20 million.”
Wilder's trainer Mailk Scott, a former heavyweight who has fought on Warren-promoted cards before when he lost to Derek Chisora in 2013, maintains that 'The Bronze Bomber' has no intention whatsoever to take a pay-off, and simply wants the rematch.
“Wilder declined and had no interest in step-aside money,” he posted on social media. “Y’all dealing with a whole different type motherf—er over here. He want the blood, not that step-aside money. Retribution is upon us.”