Is Anthony Joshua a "businessman" like Adonis Stevenson?

Shoulder Roll is there anything wrong with what Joshua is saying here? Does it sound like he is planning on ducking? I think you need to think of Joshua as more of an Andre Ward rather than a Mayweather out of the ring. He isnt going to make a lot of noise, shout and call folk out. If the fights there to be made, then itll be made in negotiations, not on Twitter.

Another thinly veiled thread to suggest AJ is ducking Wilder, Yawn

No doubt about it. Look at it like this; for Deontay Wilder the fight is a massive risk. The fight also represents the biggest payday he will ever make as a professional. For Anthony Joshua the fight is also a massive risk. The likelihood is he will make similar money, or even less money than he could in some less risky fights. That's just the reality of it. Just don't be fooled by Deontay Wilder's motivations. He is a businessman too. It's easy to chase the big challenge when it also means you will be paid five to ten times more than you ever have or will be again.

Lol businessman.. did those two guys even get their GEDs? Those guys are just savage fighters, not no fkin businessman.

Again, what more buildup does this fight really need? Wilder has the WBC belt and it would be a unification. One more fight isn't going to make much difference in terms of hyping it up. As I understand it the deal with Showtime and Joshua has concluded. So for your sake I hope he doesn't bolt to HBO now because then it would be EXACTLY like the Stevenson situation. A situation which it already resembles in principal anyway. With one guy avoiding his toughest foe in order to make more money. For you and me the fight doesnt need any more build up, for the UK casuals (who are gonna be the biggest market for this fight) they need to know Wilder is a big threat to Joshua for it to make the big bucks. Wilder starching Whyte goes some way ti making that happen. 'For my sake' lol. All i am talking about is the situation as it stands. If AJ signs an exclusive deal with HBO after their next fight (assuming they don't fight each other) i will be right with you calling it a duck. As it stands this is closer to the Canelo Vs GGG situation, except there is much less clamour for the AJ vs DW fight from casual fans now then there were for Canelo vs GGG after Ginger beat Cotto. AJ isnt avoiding Wilder :lol1: Again, if they wanted to avoid him, then they (AJ, Hearn, Sky sports) wouldnt mention his name. As it stands they talk about it all the time

Ok but that literally stopped the fight happening for the foreseeable future. All AJ/Hearn are trying to get is one fight to build Wilders name more in the UK. This fight is a big risk, we know it, Team AJ know it. They want to make the most money they can. I dont think these situations are comparible at all tbh. Stevenson and Kovalev both had fights on HBO that were meant to lead into their fight together, and then Stevenson left for Sho. If AJ gets Wilder to fight Whyte, and he fights someone else, and then he leaves for HBO. Then that is comparible and I will be joining you saying it is a duck. Until then i dont think you have much of a leg to stand on tbh Again, what more buildup does this fight really need? Wilder has the WBC belt and it would be a unification. One more fight isn't going to make much difference in terms of hyping it up. As I understand it the deal with Showtime and Joshua has concluded. So for your sake I hope he doesn't bolt to HBO now because then it would be EXACTLY like the Stevenson situation. A situation which it already resembles in principal anyway. With one guy avoiding his toughest foe in order to make more money.

Showtime offered Stevenson more money to sign with them than HBO did. That's just smart business, right? And despite that he was still willing to participate in a purse bid with Kovalev. It was the other side that backed out of it, not him. Ok but that literally stopped the fight happening for the foreseeable future. All AJ/Hearn are trying to get is one fight to build Wilders name more in the UK. This fight is a big risk, we know it, Team AJ know it. They want to make the most money they can. I dont think these situations are comparible at all tbh. Stevenson and Kovalev both had fights on HBO that were meant to lead into their fight together, and then Stevenson left for Sho. If AJ gets Wilder to fight Whyte, and he fights someone else, and then he leaves for HBO. Then that is comparible and I will be joining you saying it is a duck. Until then i dont think you have much of a leg to stand on tbh

Different situations. Stevenson made the Kovalev match up impossible to make by moving to showtime. Joshua isnt or hasnt so far. They had both already had the build up fight that was supposed to lead into their match up and then Stevenson moved. If AJ didnt fight Wilder after the next round of fights, then you can start saying duck, anf that would be similar to what Stevenson did. Im not even convinced Stevenson made a good bidniss move tbh. Yeah he made loads of money for easy fights, but he also basically never fights. Showtime offered Stevenson more money to sign with them than HBO did. That's just smart business, right? And despite that he was still willing to participate in a purse bid with Kovalev. It was the other side that backed out of it, not him.

Did you criticize Adonis Stevenson for his business decision or did you support him for it? Different situations. Stevenson made the Kovalev match up impossible to make by moving to showtime. Joshua isnt or hasnt so far. They had both already had the build up fight that was supposed to lead into their match up and then Stevenson moved. If AJ didnt fight Wilder after the next round of fights, then you can start saying duck, anf that would be similar to what Stevenson did. Im not even convinced Stevenson made a good bidniss move tbh. Yeah he made loads of money for easy fights, but he also basically never fights.

AJ stans r bout dat bizness

Wilder is a threat dude hasn't fought some one with a pulse yet.

Seems pretty clear to me this is just a bidness decision. Did you criticize Adonis Stevenson for his business decision or did you support him for it?

AJ fought Klitschko after 18 fights :thinking: and is making €10m every fight now. Wilder is scrambling for a million and attention. It's like these dumb yanks don't realize AJ's last fight was his mandatory :lol1: and he just fought last week. Did you expect him to jump in the ring this week again? How dumb can you be :lol1: AJ never called anyone out, why would he do it now? He continuously said he'd like to fight Wilder. He's just showing Wilder who's the boss, and obviously it's not Wilder. Wilder is desperate, AJ isn't. And it shows. All of this ^^^^^.

Yeah itll be big because Joshua is a massive deal over here. Joshua vs Parker would probably be only marginally smaller than AJ vs Wilder. And you wouldnt have to pay Parker as much to make the fight. Basically, Hearn wants another Klitschko'esque payday. When AJ became titlist he had loads of options with Fury lineal champ, Wlad about to rematch Fury, David Haye on the comeback and then Wilder and PArker too. Now a bunch of those options are gone (for now at least) and he needs to maximise the profits from fights like Wilder. I want the fight next. I just dont see why you guys seem so sure that Hearn/AJ are ducking or are scarred. Seems pretty clear to me this is just a bidness decision. While Parker may be paid than Wilder why would he fight Joshua for so very much less, if they lowball Parker he will just wait around and be the last domino to fall and get paid then. If they want Parker they need to pay him north of what they paid Martin most likely, and America bringing substantially more revenue to a fight with Wilder fighting so the revenue numbers will not be close either that it is not even close what those final numbers will be. I am fine with the fight not being next with Wilder because that fight will obviously be the big one, and everyone involved wants the big one to be right. That takes some time both logistically to make sure every dollar is gotten and to allow the whole fight to just seep in the the pores of the boxing public. So I get having to wait for it and it is no big deal

1 fighter wants the belts so he can fight mandos - aj The other wants them to prove hes the best - wilder I don't think that's why AJ wants the belts tbh. I don't doubt that he has 2 and wants to keep them so he can have a crack at 4. He is gonna have to take that WBA mando at some stage and its probably going to be Ortiz, innit? Mandos are fine just as long as they aren't **** like Stiverne. I want that Wilder fight next but it would be easier to make if Wilder had any sort of backing. His manager finally mentioned Vegas. They need to think about making an offer to Wilder instead of waiting cap in hand.

What more build up does this fight need, really? It will sell out a stadium over there already. Takam wasn't exactly a well known name amongst casuals I'm sure. Yet Joshua managed to draw 70,000+ with him. The fight with Wilder should happen now. There's no need to marinate it. There's a scarcity of decent heavyweights at the moment, even if the division is in better shape than it has been in the past. The clear top two are Joshua and Wilder and that fight when it comes has the potential to be huge. However in England there's very little exposure or knowledge of Wilder. We don't know any of the boxers he's faced in the ring, his fights have been on in the early morning without much in the way of promotion etc. So if the idea is to box at Wembley and make the most amount from the tickets there will have to be some work done in establishing Wilder, because at present no-one outside the most engaged boxing fans would be able to put a name to his face. They could put the fight on and make decent money, but they would be smarter to build-up to it over 1 or 2 fights. Not only to stoke interest here in the UK, but to try and raise Wilder's profile in the US to the level that PPV will deliver over there. So if I'm looking as a fan who wants to see exciting matches then sure, make it the next fight. If I were a commercial guy with a remit to maximise revenue and build the biggest event possible I'd be looking at 2 fights or more before going there. Finally on the issue of 'ducking'. Leaving aside the commercial arguments or even their relative merits as boxers, Wilder's raw power is a danger to anyone and despite his obvious promise, Joshua is still a relative newcomer at the top level. It's probably in his interest to get more rounds under his belt, take on Parker, maybe a domestic rival like winner of Haye/Bellew, Whyte 2 maybe Fury and even schedule another mandatory before getting round to Wilder. These may not be attractive to the US audience but they would be big over here and make Joshua and Hearn a very large pile of money. Wilder would still be there, a year or two older and perhaps declining, with Joshua improving all the time. The longer the fight is delayed the more the hype can build and the bigger the returns. So, whilst fans may want to see the best 2 fighters in the ring asap, I don't think it's in the commercial or sporting interests of Joshua to do this soon. He has more of the belts, he has massive appeal, he has other easier lucrative fights he can take and the longer he waits the stronger his position becomes. My bet is that we're more likely to see 2019 than 2018 before they're in a ring together.

1 fighter wants the belts so he can fight mandos - aj The other wants them to prove hes the best - wilder

Every fighter targets the biggest financial fights. The only reason not to is if you aren't confident of winning. Why did Wilder turn down $4.5 mil to make $1.4 mil again? as a boxing fan u should want to see the best fights, u care more about wilders bank account that seeing the best fights? and wilder did not turn down 4.5 mil u guys are pathetic and scared to see the best fight??? u all say ur tired of wilder fighting bums but then he calls out AJ and u want him to fight whyte??? pathetic and cowardly! u so called fans are terrible.

I don't think Aj himself has ducked but what Hearn is doing can fairly be called "avoidance". Asking him to fight Whyte first but w/ no guarantee of an AJ fight is hilariously bad. . You know your boxing. Do you remember how Roy Jones offered Dariusz Michalszewski a slot on his undercard? That would make DM lose a lot of money by not fighting in Germany and ad to that that there was no guarantee of a Jones fight after. It's kinda sad that some of those saying that DM ducked Jones now have a different standard when it comes to Wilder lmao.

What more build up does this fight need, really? It will sell out a stadium over there already. Takam wasn't exactly a well known name amongst casuals I'm sure. Yet Joshua managed to draw 70,000+ with him. The fight with Wilder should happen now. There's no need to marinate it. Yeah itll be big because Joshua is a massive deal over here. Joshua vs Parker would probably be only marginally smaller than AJ vs Wilder. And you wouldnt have to pay Parker as much to make the fight. Basically, Hearn wants another Klitschko'esque payday. When AJ became titlist he had loads of options with Fury lineal champ, Wlad about to rematch Fury, David Haye on the comeback and then Wilder and PArker too. Now a bunch of those options are gone (for now at least) and he needs to maximise the profits from fights like Wilder. I want the fight next. I just dont see why you guys seem so sure that Hearn/AJ are ducking or are scarred. Seems pretty clear to me this is just a bidness decision.