By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Eddie Hearn respects Deontay Wilder’s willingness to test himself Saturday night.
Anthony Joshua’s promoter questions, however, why Wilder would’ve embraced such a risky fight for “a lot” less money than Wilder would’ve made to fight Dillian Whyte in England.
Wilder reportedly could’ve made $4 million for facing Whyte in London. The WBC heavyweight champion’s purse for the Ortiz fight has not yet been disclosed, but it is believed to be less than $4 million.
If Wilder, listed as an approximate 3-1 favorite over Ortiz, loses Saturday night, it would ruin his biggest potential pay day, an eventual showdown with England’s Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs).
“It’s a very high-risk fight for a very small amount of money,” Hearn told BoxingScene.com recently regarding the Wilder-Ortiz bout. “Really, Ortiz has got no choice but to fight. But for Wilder, this an extremely high-risk fight for a relative small amount of money, in terms of the risk. If I’m a fighter, and I’m putting my world championship on the line against a dangerous opponent, I wanna get paid – seriously paid.
“It’s a bit of an unusual one because I offered Wilder a lot more money to fight Dillian Whyte than he’s taking to fight Luis Ortiz. Is Dillian Whyte a tougher fight than Luis Ortiz? I think you’d put them on the same kind of level. So I hope they’ve chosen wisely.”
Showtime will televise the bout between Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Cuba’s Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs, 2 NC) as the main event of a doubleheader Saturday night from Barclays Center in Brooklyn (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).
London’s Whyte (22-1, 16 KOs), the No. 1 contender for Wilder’s title, is set to square off against Australia’s Lucas Browne (25-0, 22 KOs) on March 24 at O2 Arena in London. Hearn added that the WBC could declare Whyte the mandatory challenger for its heavyweight championship if he beats Browne in their 12-rounder for the WBC silver heavyweight title.
“They’ll have the choice to wait it out and make the No. 1 the mandatory, or have a final eliminator,” Hearn said. “And right now I think that would be between Whyte and [second-ranked Dominic] Breazeale, which is another good fight. But I kind of feel like we’ve got Deontay Wilder surrounded, really, in that I believe that we’re gonna have his next mandatory, which is Dillian Whyte.
“And, of course, we want the Anthony Joshua fight [against Wilder]. Anthony Joshua’s got all these fights he can take. Of course he wants to be the undisputed champion. But at the same time, the deal’s gotta be right and we have to be reasonable.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
