DEONTAY WILDER has accused Anthony Joshua of previously turning down a multi-million pound fight offer.
The pair of heavyweight rivals have failed in the past to get a deal over the line for a blockbuster bout.
In 2018, Joshua publicly stated in an interview that he would accept the fight for $50million (£40m).
And Wilder claimed at the time that his team provided the funds but it was still turned down.
Now, the American has maintained this was still the case five years later.
He told the Daily Mail: “He asked for $50million and we provided that for him and he did not take it.
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“And the only way you can disregard that is to make a mockery of it, try to make a joke of it, try to make it seem to the public that it’s not real.”
Joshua explained that the $50m offer came with contractual obligations he did not deem worth the money.
He said to iFL TV in 2018: “It’s a hell of a lot of money and it was an honour to even have that number thrown at me.
“But then when you dissected it and what it actually it was, it was kind of like a rights fee – ‘We own you for this amount of money’.
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“The issue I had was that I’ve got long-standing contracts in place with certain partnerships.
“So you may put that money forward and think that you own me 100 per cent but you may only own 50 per cent so that makes their 50 per cent worth 25 per cent.
“So when you start getting into the intricacies of a contract and what the real value is, that’s when that starts taking place.
“So the $50m was unbelievable, it’s a great number, but there are things in place that don’t make that $50m worth it to the person paying it.”
The superstar duo are now finally lined up to fight as they return on the same card in Saudi Arabia on December 23.
Joshua, 34, headlines the Riyadh card against Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin, 32.
And Wilder, 38, faces former WBO world champion Joseph Parker, 31, who AJ dethroned in 2018.
Should they both win, it is expected a two-fight deal will then follow for the American and Brit to meet in Saudi.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
