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Deontay Wilder: Fight with Anthony Joshua will 'stop the world' but AJ's priority is Joseph Parker

Boxing

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes a fight with Anthony Joshua would 'stop the world' but insists he would walk away from a unification fight with AJ unless a 50-50 split is agreed.

Last month Eddie Hearn held talks with Shelly Finkel and Al Haymon, Wilder's representatives, about a potential fight with Joshua next year, but the American told ESPN a bout between IBF and WBA champion Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) and WBO title holder Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) is of greater importance to Hearn.

"I don't think they are trying to make a negotiation at this point," Wilder exclusively told ESPN. "I think they are trying to seek Parker. They got him on his agenda. [He is] their top priority which is fine. If they don't want to fight at this time, that it is ok.

"We're not [going to] chase [anybody]. I'm not chasing Joshua. If Joshua [doesn't] want to fight, then that's fine. If they want to have one fight apiece, and fight me next, that is fine."

He states that the UK public got a taste of what Joshua is in for in his knockout of Bermane Stiverne. But while he is willing to walk away from a fight if the finances aren't right, Joshua wants to unify the heavyweight belts. To do this, at present, he will have to go through Wilder.

"The state of boxing, the heavyweight division, we can finally say it is back, it is exciting, it's on fire and to make it even more lit, and even more exciting is going to be the moment when me and Joshua stand in the middle of the ring.

"All the eyes around the world will be watching. We will stop the world in a moment in time to see once and for all, who is the heavyweight champion of the world."

Parker has stated that he would accept a 65-35 split in favour of Joshua, while Hearn has been adamant Wilder doesn't warrant an equal share of the spoils.

Wilder, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, told ESPN that Joshua and Hearn are using the percentage as an excuse not to fight him, and added that he would walk away from any bout unless the money is split down the middle.

"It is a great fight, it is one of the biggest fights in the world and everyone wants it. It will be 50-50 or else we don't see a fight.

"If they want to use splits, not to make a fight happen, then so be it. It is not like I am asking for more, I'm saying this is a 50-50 fight and that's how it is. In the rematch, then we can talk about 60-40 splits or whatever. That is more acceptable."

He added: "At the end of the day, whether we fight or not, the pressure is not on me, it is going to be on him."

Wilder defeated Stiverne with an emphatic first-round knockout in November, a week after Joshua stopped Carlos Takam in front of 80,000 people in Cardiff. But some people have questioned the credibility of the Alabama native's opponents -- Luiz Ortiz, Alexander Povetkin and Andrzej Wawrzyk all failed drug tests before arranged fights.

Wilder questioned what he termed the "AJ protectors" who praise the fighter for "beating a 41-year-old man [Wladimir Klitschko] that was out for almost two years [and] that was already dethroned".

If AJ was to beat a champion, take a champion's belt, Wilder adds, he would have no argument. But if the fight does happen, the American has no doubt how the fight will go.

"I knock Joshua out and don't be surprised if it is in the first round. But I definitely knock Joshua out," says the man with 19 first-round knockouts.

"When it all boils to this beautiful fight happening, they are not going to care about the splits. 

"On this night, on this day, [in] this moment, they are going to care about who is the best -- officially. And at the end of the night, they will take away a brilliant fight and they will understand who is the best in the world. They will have one champion, one name, Deontay Wilder, who will be standing with his hands in the sky."

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