Deontay Wilder Accepts Anthony Joshua Offer For UK Fight, September Date Targeted

World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has accepted Anthony Joshua's terms for a title unification fight to take place in the United Kingdom later this year.

A bout between the two unbeaten heavyweights has been slated for a while but a major stumbling block was where it would take place with Joshua wanting to fight in the U.K. while Wilder wanted to fight in the United States.

However, Wilder revealed on Twitter on Monday night he accepted Joshua's offer to fight on the latter's home turf while revealing his own $50 million offer was still on the table.

“We have agreed to the terms that [Joshua's promoter] Eddie [Hearn] has put out to us for a fight in the U.K. Deontay has accepted his terms to fight in the U.K.,” Wilder's co-manager Shelly Finkel said, via ESPN. “Deontay sent an email to Joshua [Sunday] night, and I sent one [Monday] to Barry Hearn and Eddie telling them that we officially accept the offer to fight under the terms they gave us and to send us the contract.”

Joshua currently holds the World Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and International Boxing Organization titles and requires Wilder's belt to completely unify the division.

His team had previously sent out a $12.5 million offer which was followed up with a $15 million offer that would see Wilder earn a flat fee with no percentage of the overall event. However, it would also entitle the American to a guaranteed rematch with Joshua in the U.S. with a 50/50 purse split.

While the “Bronze Bomber” would have preferred a percentage of the event for the first fight, Finkel said given the time frame, they opted to accept the offer as Wilder wanted the fight and will now wait for a response from Hearn.

“Now we will see if they live up to it or if they try to go through with the fight with [mandatory challenger Alexander] Povetkin first,” Finkel added. “Hopefully, we'll get an answer in the next couple days. If they change their mind, the $50 million [against 50 percent of the event] we offered them [to come to the United States] is still on the table. That is still for them if they want it.”

“There's no [percentage] split, but they've offered us a good purse. Not as good as we feel it should be, but we want the fight, and we're willing to take what they offered. We wanted a percentage, but we didn't think we could get it done in a quick time frame, so we said let's take what they've offered us. Deontay wants this fight.”

Joshua plans on fighting in September with Finkel confirming that was the target date for the bout. But the exact date of Sept. 15 could be problematic as it would collide with Gennady Golovkin's proposed middleweight title fight with Canelo Alvarez should it still happen, so October and November is a possibility as well.

As it stands, Joshua is a -200 favorite while Wilder is a +170 underdog, according to the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.