Back in March, UFC president Dana White expressed his intention to sign heavyweight world titleholder Anthony Joshua and have him leave his longtime promoters — Eddie Hearn and join him under Zuffa Boxing umbrella, presumably.
White was quizzed about the rumors during UFC Fight Night 130’s post-fight press conference, where he denied the claims that he offered heavyweight boxing champion (21-0) a deal worth $500 million. (via BloodyElbow)
“I never made him an offer ever,” White said to reporters. We were supposed to meet. We never met, we never talked money, we never did anything.”
“That isn’t even the kind of deal I was looking to structure,” White said. “Because when we talked, [Joshua] had told me that he was going to stay with Eddie Hearn. He was never going to get rid of Eddie Hearn, and that was never the plan. It was never like I was trying to move in and steal him from Hearn.
“The deal was that I felt we could add a lot of value to them in the United States,” He added. “So we could cut some kind of a deal in the US. He’s big in England, everyone knows who he is in England. And I have the machine to make him big in the United States. That was the plan.”
“Listen, I’ve worked with [Al Haymon], there’s a lot of guys I’d love to work with in the boxing business. Bob Arum isn’t one of them, but there’s a lot of other guys out there that I would.”
As per White, the offer he had in mind for Joshua was one which would see him promote the heavyweight champion in the USA.
Joshua (21-0) last competed in a major unification bout, where he captured the WBO title and retained the WBA, IBF, and IBO belts via unanimous decision win over New Zealand’s Joseph Parker.
