Eddie Hearn: Deontay Wilder Given 'Much-Improved' Offer to Fight Anthony Joshua

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn says "something doesn't smell right" after making a "very attractive offer" for Deontay Wilder to fight Anthony Joshua, only for the former's representatives to deny them a meeting.

Per Sky Sports' Tim Hobbs and Andy Scott, Hearn and his father Barry are attempting to arrange a unification fight between Wilder, who holds the WBC heavyweight belt, and Joshua, who holds WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles.

Negotiations are not going as Hearn hoped, however, as he told Sky Sports: "It's frustrating. We keep requesting these meetings and they don't want them to take place, which is a bit strange when you're talking about the biggest fight in world boxing—you can't negotiate fights like this over the internet or over a telephone."

Hearn said he contacted Wilder's team after Joshua beat Alexander Povetkin in September to request a meeting, but they were denied.

He added: "We went back and made a much-improved offer from the first one—this one with a percentage split—a very attractive offer and then requested a meeting, but they turned round and said 'no, we won't meet you.'"

Joshua will fight at Wembley Stadium—where he beat Povetkin—again on April 13, and he could be called upon to fulfil a mandatory title defence.

Wilder will first defend his WBC title against Tyson Fury on December 1, and Hearn explained that the offer—which is contingent on the American beating Fury—accounted for an increased value after that bout.

Barry Hearn kept fans updated on Twitter and expressed his own displeasure at the situation:

"I am not expecting them to sign the deal within a week or two weeks, but we have to have a meeting," Eddie added.

Ultimately, Hearn called on Wilder's co-manager, Shelly Finkel, to sit down with them:

"I understand Deontay Wilder has a fight with Tyson Fury to focus on, but the job of an adviser or as a manager is to plan the future and if there is the opportunity to have an undisputed heavyweight world champions' fight, they have the responsibility to explore that.

"But they are not even willing to explore that and something doesn't smell right. But we've got to go about our own business. Can we wait until after December 1? Well there's mandatory situations as well, so it's just frustrating we can't even have a meeting to discuss it."

While it's understandable that Wilder and his team are focusing on his upcoming clash with Fury, that fight is almost two months away, so their reluctance to hold a face-to-face meeting regarding Joshua is unusual.

A unification fight would be a lucrative option, too, and would likely be welcomed by many boxing fans.

If the Bronze Bomber wants to fight Joshua in the near future, his team would do well to open lines of communication with Hearn.