By Keith Idec

Anthony Joshua wants to travel to the United States soon for a private meeting with Deontay Wilder’s handlers.

That’s how Joshua will most accurately judge just how serious they are about Wilder fighting Joshua next. The last thing Joshua wants to do is negotiate publicly for the biggest fight in boxing that hasn’t been made.

Assuming that meeting takes place, Joshua plans to tell Al Haymon, Wilder’s adviser, and co-manager Shelly Finkel that he and promoter Eddie Hearn have no intention of overpaying Wilder to travel to the United Kingdom for their heavyweight title unification fight.

Wilder and his team have stated that they think the fight can make more money if it is held in the United States. They believe they can charge higher tickets prices if Joshua and Wilder were to fight at a venue such as T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and would perhaps get more money up front in the form of a site fee.

Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) wants Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) to fight him in the United Kingdom. The unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion has become a huge star there and has helped draw nearly 250,000 fans combined to his past three fights – two at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and one at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The 28-year-old Joshua is certain his unprecedented drawing power in the United Kingdom gives him negotiating leverage over Alabama’s Wilder, the WBC champion.

“It’s the same thing, always,” Joshua said regarding overpaying opponents following his unanimous-decision defeat of Joseph Parker on Saturday night in Cardiff. “So I said, ‘Let me get all of these belts now, and then I’m gonna be one of the most powerful men sitting on this side of the negotiating table.’ So why do I have to do all this work to still have to give someone a bonus? Can I get a bonus now? You know what I mean? Can I get a little pat on the back now? So that’s how I see it as well. It’s a bit of a Catch-22.”

Hearn seconded Joshua’s take on negotiating for the Wilder fight.

“From the debut, we’ve had to overpay [opponents],” Hearn said. “And it’s gone all the way up to the 21st fight. And now you flip that Don King quote, and say, ‘No, no, no. [Wilder will] get what he deserves.’ Because he hasn’t worked this hard to get all these [titles] and to get in the position [Joshua has] got and the atmosphere he’s got tonight, just to give – it’s not a charity.”

New Zealand’s Parker reportedly earned a guarantee of roughly $7 million to travel to Cardiff to fight Joshua, who reportedly was guaranteed approximately $18 million. Wilder will want significantly more than what Parker earned to fight Joshua in the UK.

Regardless, the fight isn’t likely to happen next.

Hearn has already publicly discussed bringing Joshua to the United States for his American debut sometime in August. Jarrell Miller (21-0-1, 18 KOs) is the opponent Hearn has mentioned for Joshua’s U.S. debut at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but Brooklyn’s Miller must defeat France’s Johann Duhaupas (37-4, 24 KOs) on April 28 at Barclays Center to remain in that mix.

If Joshua fights Miller next or makes a mandatory defense of his WBA title against Russia’s Alexander Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs), a Joshua-Wilder fight still could be scheduled for later this year.

“I think it has to happen in 2018,” Hearn said. “Otherwise, we’re getting into some major problems with the politics and the mandatories. So it’s just a case of whether it happens next, or if we fight in the summer, what happens then. But like AJ said, if they stepped up and actually were serious about the fight, and serious about a deal that we’re more than fair to offer them, it could happen next. But with them, they’re so erratic and unpredictable, I don’t what to believe.”

Joshua wants to determine for himself if Wilder’s side is as serious as Wilder has repeatedly stressed he is to fight Joshua in recent months.

“Yeah, that’s correct,” Joshua said of preferring to face Wilder next. “I think that 2018 was always a time to capture all the belts. And we’re one away now. Like it’s been a big question that was asked after the fight, and I spoke about it then. And I just said that I’m not into the business of hype, hype, hype, talk, talk, talk, talk. And I’d love to kind of maybe go to America with Eddie or [trainer] Rob [McCracken], and look at the landscape and see how serious they are, you know?

“And do all this behind closed doors because no negotiations can go on over social media and YouTube channels and stuff. But I feel like in terms of when you’re doing serious business, you have to get it done in confidential privacy, and discuss terms and conditions, and so on and so forth. And then we can see how serious people are about taking the fight.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.