Team Parker 'losing patience' in Joshua negotiations

As the negotiations to stage a heavyweight title unification between Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua haad been inching closer, it appears the two sides have hit a momentary impasse where Parker's promoter, David Higgins, says he won't even bother to fly to meet Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn, in person.

Higgins tells Sky Sports that Hearn hasn't softened his stance on a purse split, even after Parker's team graciously lowered their first 'non-negotiable' offer to a 65% split in Joshua's favor.

"As it stands, AJ is refusing to compromise and has drawn a line in the sand that we think is unreasonable. It's not worth me coming to London."

The Duco Events promoter would go on to indirectly suggest the sides are now at the point of haggling over a mere three percentage points before Higgins would throw this shot across the bow.

"Can you imagine Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis dodging unification because 65 per cent of profit is not enough?

"Joshua, if he wants to be taken seriously, and he wants to put himself in the same sentence as Ali or George Foreman or Federer, has to prove he's a man of his word, and to date he's all hot air. We're losing patience."

Such a public outcry from a promoter would lead me to believe that this deal is still close to being made, and that the sides are just seeing who might blink first before splitting the difference at the eleventh hour. But I'm mostly just curious to see if Higgins adept skill in public negotiations will get this thing over the goal line at all.