Eddie Hearn sets Deontay Wilder deadline

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Promoter Eddie Hearn has urged Deontay Wilder to agree to a fight with fellow heavyweight Anthony Joshua by the end of this week.

The heavyweight giants have been in negotiations since Joshua defeated Joseph Parker to add the WBO title to his IBF, WBA and IBO belts in March.

A unification bout between Joshua and WBO champion Wilder appears to be getting closer but the two camps still have some details to iron out before they can sign the contract.

Hearn feels his man holds all the cards in the negotiations and claims Wilder should travel to the UK if he wants to face the Olympic gold medallist.

“We all decided as a team that the first fight should be in the UK.

It’s not a case of being arrogant but at the moment there’s a very clear A-side in the fight, and the fight should take place where that A-side wants that fight to take place. If Wilder wins he becomes the A-side,” Hearn said.

Meanwhile, WBA mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin has entered the picture and could line up against Joshua if terms with Wilder aren’t finalised soon.

With Povetkin in mind, Hearn is eager to quicken the pace of talks with Wilder and has issued a deadline.

He added: “We’ve got a situation with Povetkin where probably next week they’ll (WBA) call for purse bids then it takes another two weeks, something like that for the purse bids. I think realistically two weeks is the absolute deadline.”

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