ANTHONY JOSHUA wants to set up a £20million GoFundMe for Deontay Wilder to step aside so he can ‘smoke that fat guy’ Tyson Fury.
AJ and the Gypsy King were all-but ready to put every heavyweight belt on the line on August 14 in Saudi Arabia.
But that was until a US judge ruled in favour of Wilder in arbitration, meaning Fury owes the American a third fight in their series.
To salvage the historic undisputed title decider, paying the American a compensation package emerged as a potential resolution.
And Joshua, 31, appears ready to take matters into his own hands to raise the funds, as he took a swipe at rivals Fury, 32, and Wilder, 35.
He posted on social media: “I’m thinking about starting a go fund me page to raise money for wilders step aside payment £20,000,000.
“So I can smoke that fat guy with skinny legs from Manchester.
“These heavyweights need a podcast or something cas they do more talking than fighting.”
Fury dethroned Wilder of the WBC belt in February 2020 but their contract included an immediate rematch.
That never came to fruition amid the coronavirus pandemic and the Gypsy King’s team argued the stipulation expired in October.
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As a result, they entered talks with Joshua all while Wilder took his case to civil court.
And after months the decision went his way, meaning Fury is faced with either fighting him or negotiating a step aside deal.
But that idea was all but thrown out by his US promoter Bob Arum and Wilder’s new trainer Malik Scott.
Scott, 40, posted: “Wilder declined and had no interest in step-aside money. Y’all dealing with a whole different type motherf***a over here.
“He want the blood, not that step-aside money. ‘Retribution is upon us’.”
And Arum told ESPN: “We’re not paying Wilder to step aside. It’s better to get rid of him. We can make Fury vs AJ for November or December.”
The Top Rank boss also revealed he has reserved the new 65,000-seater Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for July 24 should Fury have to box Wilder again.
Eddie Hearn, a driving force in securing a deal for the all-British unification, hopes the super-fight can still be saved.
But he admitted it is out of his hands and is lining up a backup option in Oleksandr Usyk, 34, who is currently Joshua’s WBO mandatory challenger.
According to The Athletic, talks are underway for AJ to face the Ukrainian on either August 21 or 28 should the undisputed fight fall through.
The news came after Hearn, who has promoted Joshua since his 2013 debut, gave Fury’s side until the end of the week to resolve their trilogy dispute.
Hearn said on Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel: “I have been focusing on Plan A. The only fight we had our mind on was Tyson Fury.
“We hope that that fight can still take place on August 14th.
“The game changed last night where we have to have a plan B in place, and probably a plan C as well.
“We have a couple of different options; of course, the one that springs to mind immediately is the WBO mandatory of Oleksandr Usyk.
“They have been quite patient and I think really, we are in a situation where if Team Fury don’t get themselves together, get their act together, by the end of this week, we will have no option but to look for an alternative fight.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
