Video: Watch Eddie Hearn troll Deontay Wilder by asking people in New York if they know who he is
KEY POINTS
- Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder have been slated to fight in 2018.
- Hearn revealed that a fight could take place but that negotiations have to be fair.
Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn took a swipe at WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder by conducting a test on the streets of New York.
WBA, IBF and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who Hearn promotes, has been slated to fight Wilder in a title unification bout.
With the two unbeaten heavyweights going back and forth with insults and call-outs, Hearn recently revealed that the fight could take place in 2018, adding that talks with Wilder's promoters were positive.
However, the British promoter has always maintained that negotiations between the two parties have to be fair considering "AJ" is the bigger boxing draw.
The Briton defeated Wladimir Klitschko back in April in front of a 90,000 Wembley crowd before most recently defending his belts against Carlos Takam in Cardiff's Principality Stadium, which was initially against Kubrat Pulev, became the fastest-selling event in history.
Meanwhile, Wilder most recently defended his WBC title against Bermane Stiverne in New York's Barclays Center with an attendance of 10,924, which included a lot of giveaway tickets.
While talking about another fighter he promotes in Daniel Jacobs, Hearn spoke up about how today's boxers aren't well known on the streets of America.
"The problem in America is fighters don't have a real profile on the street," Hearn told iFL TV. "If you went down the street in England and said 'Do you know who Anthony Joshua is?', how many times out of 10, would someone say 'yeah, he's X'?"
"10 out of 10? Maybe nine out of 10?"
Hearn then proceeded to ask two New Yorkers on the streets if they knew who Wilder was and the results can be seen below.
Hearn added afterwards: "So here we are. We're out in the streets of New York and it's quite simple: this is the problem. You have to hit the man on the street, you have to hit the general public."
"If I was promoting the world heavyweight champion from America, who could fight like Deontay Wilder could, who could talk like Deontay Wilder could, who walked and looks like Deontay Wilder looks would, everytime someone walked past, the question and answer would be different."
