Comments Thread For: Hearn admits to overpaying Martin to secure IBF title for Joshua

[Boksfan]

He's fighting a better fighter. Period. End of story. You can't duck someone when you choose to fight a better opponent. Luis Ortiz was the original opponent for Wilder's November fight. When that fell through they made the sensible decision to fight Bermaine Stiverne on the card. Would Whyte have been a better opponent than Stiverne? Yes. But Stiverne was Wilder's mandatory and he was already fighting on the same card. So switching to Stiverne was easy and it took that pesky mandatory fight out of the equation. Wilder would then be available to fight optional fights and unification bouts without worrying about getting stripped. He tried to get a unification bout with Joshua but when Eddie Hearn kept deficating Whyte's name as an alternative to the media while setting up Joshua/Parker instead. Wilder then made the sensible decision to pursue a fight with the reinstated Luis Ortiz.

**** Dillan Whyte. Let him earn a shot like everyone else. The good thing is that he is currently ranked #1 for Wilder's belt. As long as he keeps fighting guys ranked by the WBC and winning those fights he'll get his chance eventually. Maybe he can fight someone like Andy Ruiz. Or maybe he can fight Charles Martin or Dominic Breazeale. Maybe then he can build up his name in the US to become more worthy of a fight with Wilder while making the definitive case that he is the best of Joshua's sloppy seconds.

Windmill ducked Whyte for biggest career pay, he shyt his pants when someone even mention British boxer and you know it, you're another clueless Windmill fan girl

[Froch_uppercut]

Wilder would smash Whyte.

It's an odd one because Wilder would have got a career high payday by some distance for fighting Whyte. Whyte is really domestic level. It would also raise his profile in the UK too. It would be a worthwhile fight for many reasons.

I kind of understand Wilder though, he's a champion and one of the top fighters in the division. If he is serious about wanting the AJ fight, he must think why should he have to fight a lower level fighter just to get a unification, which wouldn't even be certain to happen. I understand Wilder's stance, i'd want something guaranteed too.

It's a bit of a dilemma really. It's a lot of money to fight an average fighter but then he's also already dancing to Hearn's tune by doing what he suggests, which isn't really good for Wilder if he wants a strong stance in the negotiations for an AJ fight.

I'm not a Wilder fan but no way he is afraid of Whyte. He was about to fight ortiz and Povetkin, i don't think he has much issue about actually getting into a ring with Whyte, a fighter who couldn't lace their boots.

Wilder to beat Whyte is no gimme. Whyte can fight, and what exactly does 'domestic level' mean in this day and age anyway? Whyte would give all of them problems, like he did AJ.

There is no logical reason why Wilder should not have taken the payday. But credit to the guy i he takes Ortiz anyway, that's a banana skin.

[j0zef]

Of course he did overpay at the time. But it was a great move in hindsight, which is why he did it. AJ has potential to be a huge star. Getting him a belt and a highlight reel KO (over a bum) was a great marketing move.

[yankees7448]

Windmill ducked Whyte for biggest career pay, he shyt his pants when someone even mention British boxer and you know it, you're another clueless Windmill fan girl

No one is afraid of Whyte. He peaked when he lasted 7 with Joshua. Who is going to be scared of that?

[Boksfan]

No one is afraid of Whyte. He peaked when he lasted 7 with Joshua. Who is going to be scared of that?

OK I admit no one should be afraid of him but there is some reason Wilder refused to fight him. We can only speculate.

[german12johnson]

U can say what u want but starting to look like an camp is unsure to

[Dr.Cool]

It isn't overpaying at all. When a fighter is as heavy a favorite as AJ was over Martin, AJ could have fought him for free and came out with the better end of the deal. As ridiculous as it is with so many different belts or titles, it is still true that if a fighter holds a belt, no matter how illegitimate it may be that fighter earns more money. Casuals see the word champ next to a name and figures that name must be pretty good. However, when guys like Charles Martin can hold a title, something is terribly wrong. Corruption run amok.

As for Wilder and Whyte, Wilder has said numerous times he will fight Whyte as long as he is guaranteed AJ next. As soon as he said that Hearn shut up and hasn't said a word about it since then. Literally. With no guarantee for AJ, Wilder went to Russia to fight Povetkin, and when that fell through he signed to fight Ortiz. When Ortiz failed a ped test, Wilder still pleaded to fight Ortiz. I'm sorry, but it is not ducking if the guy Wilder is fighting is that much better. And yes, Ortiz is believed to be much better than Whyte. If Hearn and AJ were not scared of Wilder, they would gladly have a deal for Wilder to fight Whyte, and as long as Wilder won, to have a Wilder-Joshua fight next. But they won't, because they have no intention of fighting Wilder anytime soon. So, Wilder signed to fight the next highest ranked hw. How anyone can look at that and say he is ducking Whyte to fight Ortiz is mind boggling. If Wilder was fighting Whyte next instead of Ortiz everyone would be saying he is ducking Ortiz. The only way for Wilder to get credit would be to fight Ortiz and Whyte in the same night.

[Dr.Cool]

Wilder to beat Whyte is no gimme. Whyte can fight, and what exactly does 'domestic level' mean in this day and age anyway? Whyte would give all of them problems, like he did AJ.

There is no logical reason why Wilder should not have taken the payday. But credit to the guy i he takes Ortiz anyway, that's a banana skin.

Wilder literally signed to fight Ortiz instead of Whyte. Yes, to some it seems illogical to fight a better opponent for less money. But when you want to prove your greatness, that is what you do.

Another logical reason would be to not give Hearn that payday when Hearn is still refusing to even talk about a Wilder-Joshua fight. Wilder said he would fight Whyte, if AJ was next. Hearn then said, no, no nevermind.

There is no logical reason for Hearn to not put AJ being next in the contract, if Hearn is honestly planning to have AJ fight Wilder after Parker anyway. Why??? If the plan is to fight Wilder after Parker, why not agree to that? The only reason is because AJ has no intention of fighting Wilder anytime in 2018. So, Wilder is fighting a more dangerous and more highly regarded opponent than Whyte. That is not ducking, that is fighting the best opponent that will fight you. That is the exact opposite of ducking.

[yankees7448]

OK I admit no one should be afraid of him but there is some reason Wilder refused to fight him. We can only speculate.

We can speculate and watch as Wilder likely fights Luis Ortiz while Whyte fights another mediocre guy. Lets see Whyte step up and try to earn a title shot rather than depend upon his promoter talking him into one.

[N/A]

AJ makes more money because Eddie Hearn is a better advisor/promoter in his sleep than Finkel and Haymon put together!

If the amount of money generated determines who is better, wouldn't Finkel and Haymon win in a landslide since the biggest events they've coordinated have generated far more money than Hearn's biggest events?