Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder is claiming that Anthony Joshua rejected an offer of a $50 million to fight him.

Wilder and Joshua will appear in separate fights as part of a big event taking place on December 23 in Saudi Arabia.

Joshua, a former two-time champion, will headline the card against Otto Wallin. Wilder will appear in the co-main, against former champion Joseph Parker.

Should the two of them win, there is a possibility of a showdown in 2024 in Saudi Arabia.

Wilder alleges that his team approached Joshua for a fight, with the British star demanding $50 million make it happen. According to Wilder, the financial demand was met, but Joshua went in another direction.

"He asked for $50 million and we provided that for him and he did not take it. And the only way you can disregard that is to make a mockery of it, try to make a joke of it, try to make it seem to the public that it's not real," Wilder told The Daily Mail.

"It's an 'oh sh!t moment'. They came up with $50 million. That's why they don't have Joshua speaking a lot on his own behalf and if he does speak he always slips up and says things that are not appealing to his people. And they have to play clean up. 

"It's his management that have held him back from fighting me because, you know, he's a fighter. It's been over six years (waiting for the fight to be made). But there comes a point in time we're you're like, 'Forget it'. Many times he wanted to fight, he wanted to accept it but his handlers didn't want it because Joshua is the money-maker for the company. And if he goes down, so does the business."