Was the $50 million there or not?

[Accolade]

This poll is for informational purposes only. I think you'd have to be a dingbat to believe the $50 million Wilder offered to Joshua was fake, but nonetheless I'm interested in how this poll will play out.

I'm certain that the $50 million was there because Al Haymon was behind the biggest fights in boxing history, managed to get $500 million from investors for PBC, and is unanimously appreciated by his fighters for getting them paid (AND people in the music industry. Drake mentioned getting "Al Haymon checks" in a song). Shelly Finkel also has a reputation for producing big fights, and Stephen Espinoza confirmed the offer was real. Espinoza gave Mayweather his $30+ million purses and the $100 million purse for the McGregor fight. Not to mention Showtime is linked to CBS, a company with $21 billion in just assets. By that alone I think it's safe to say the $50 million was real. The fact that specific terms of the deal were released: no rematch clause, fight in the US, 50-50 past $100 million also tells me that this was a genuine offer, if not a detailed one. The fact that Barry, Eddie, and AJ came out to publicly decline the offer, saying they'd be willing to take millions less to fight in the UK, also tells me this was a legitimate offer. What do you think and what are your reasons for believing/not believing Wilder's $50 million offer was real?

[rickJen]

What's amazing is Hearn was in New York and wanted a meeting with Finkel.
He was denied the meeting. It's so unprofessional and childish.
Never seen anything like it.

[Madison Boxing]

Wilders a fighter who earns 2 mill a fight on a good day. Why are they gonna throw 50 mill at Joshua for. And if they were gonna give him 50 how much would wilder get? He's been crying about deserving 50 50.split so do they give him 50 mill too? Use some common sense man.promoters.also haggle over every penny, they won t just throw him 50 mill with no negotiation and just cause it's a round figure. Wilder v Joshua in America isn't even that big an event i don't know where the hell u think all this money is gonna get generated from or is uncle al just doing it out of the goodness of his own heart

[Accolade]

What is amazing was Hearn was in New York and wanted a meeting with Finkel.
He was denied the meeting. It's so unprofessional and childish.
Never seen anything like it.

Eddie Hearn canceled the first meeting fyi. Was scheduled on a Tuesday, but regardless:

Anthony Joshua came on camera and said "give me $50 million up front and I'll sign the fight tomorrow." He didn't accept the monetary offer when it was presented to him, and Eddie chose to insult Finkel (this was at the height of the "Shirley Winkle" tripe) rather than act like a professional. I don't blame Finkel for claiming the meeting would've been unproductive. They made a demand and it was met, but they chose to be wishy-washy and not say yes. Then Eddie came up with the silly excuse that verbal agreements are legally binding. Why meet with someone who isn't accepting what they asked for?

[Madison Boxing]

And You've all been telling us that no-one knows who Joshua is in American , calling him Anthony Johnson/Jackson yet apparently it's some superstar fight that generates 100 mill or whatever. How does that work if wilders fighting someone who no-one knows who he is stateside?

[HanzGruber]

The reason they didn’t fight wasn’t cause the money wasn’t there. It was cause aj won’t leave the uk

[rickJen]

Fury vs Wilder is WAY BIGGER, according to Deontay.
So we expect him and his team to offer Fury more than $50 in guarantees.
We'll soon see.

[Accolade]

And You've all been telling us that no-one knows who Joshua is in American , calling him Anthony Johnson/Jackson yet apparently it's some superstar fight that generates 100 mill or whatever. How does that work if wilders fighting someone who no-one knows who he is stateside?

• US media promotion
• UK media promotion
• Sky Sports + Showtime promotion
• All 4 belts
• Charismatic, big heavyweights (Joshua is as charismatic as a plank of wood to me, but most think otherwise)
• UK fans flying overseas
• Las Vegas casinos + venue
• Favorable date (most likely)
• US, UK, international PPV

I think Haymon, Finkel, etc. were willing to take the risk, and I'm sure they considered the reasons I listed above. If they were wrong, Joshua still would've taken home $50 million. This was a golden offer. You know Wilder would've done his best to promote the fight, since he'd have been on the side taking the risk. That would've decreased his time in fight preparation significantly. With a signed contract and a guaranteed $50 million Joshua could've sandbagged the fight promotion to focus on preparing.

[Larry the boss]

Hearn himself said the offer was real

[Accolade]

Why would Al Haymon, Shelly Finkel, and Stephen Espinoza stick their necks out and possibly ruin their reputation just for a PR stunt? They all have reputations to uphold, and since Wilder is "just some guy from Alabama" that can't put up $50 million why would they risk their reputations for him? AJ fans, explain.