Anthony Joshua negotiating with Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker

There’s a lot going on in the heavyweight scene right now in boxing, with WBA and IBF titleholder Anthony Joshua, WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder, WBO titleholder Joseph Parker, and the looming presence of former champion Tyson Fury still getting mixed together.

Nothing concrete is happening yet, but Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says that he’s negotiating with representatives for both Wilder and Parker:

"I'm sitting down with [Wilder's representatives] Shelly Finkel and Al Haymon later this week to have our first conversations regarding Joshua vs Wilder. ... I spoke to [Parker's promoter] David Higgins [on Tuesday night] and we are discussing the deal and fight in depth over the next few days to see if there is some common ground."

Here’s what Joshua said about Deontay Wilder in an interview with Kugan Cassius:

“Deontay Wilder wants to call me out, no problem. I’ve already had a meeting about that. But the difference between him and me is, I don’t just say what I say to please people. I mean what I say. I don’t do my negotiations in public. I don’t do business in public. We had a meeting. ... Wilder seems to say that I’m ducking him and that he’s really interested in fighting me. There’s not been any offers. ... It seems to me that there’s interest, but it’s not serious interest. Eddie’s going to America for the Danny Jacobs fight, and he’s contacting the champions that are interested in fighting, and I’ll have to kind of put my foot forward and start making the offers, trying to secure a fight with the likes of Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker.”

As for Parker, the New Zealander’s promoter says that he is negotiating with Eddie Hearn for a fight with Joshua, and believes that both parties sincerely want to make a unification fight happen.

From Sky Sports:

“The starting point is 50-50. But as a mark of respect, we would accept a bit less. But we will not accept an insult. Why should we? ... Eddie Hearn is very straightforward. He wants to make big fights happen. Despite the banter, the guy genuinely wants to unify [the world titles]. We have respect for them.”

Right now, Parker has a deal in place to face Lucas Browne in March, but that could be pushed aside if a Joshua deal comes together.

And as for Fury, Joshua threw this out on Twitter, just to keep the unbeaten Fury’s name circulating, because in an reality, a fight between Joshua and Fury is probably still the biggest money fight that can be made in the division right now:

Pretty simple.

Meanwhile, there is speculation that Jarrell Miller could be next for Joshua, if Miller wins his HBO debut on Saturday night against Mariusz Wach. And Wilder already has a new WBC mandatory in Dominic Breazeale, though since he just took care of his prior mandatory challenger, Bermane Stiverne, he’ll have time before that fight has to happen.