Billy Joe Saunders has branded Deontay Wilder a ‘racist c***’ in response to his comments about Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua.
WBC Heavyweight champion Wilder accused boxing promoter Hearn of exploiting Joshua during an astonishing outburst ahead of his fight with Luis Ortiz on Saturday night.
‘Eddie Hearn is just another white man milking a black man, that is all,’ Wilder told a press conference ahead of the bout in New York.
Billy Joe Saunders has called Deontay Wilder a ‘racist c***’ following the American’s claim that promoter Eddie Hearn is exploiting heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua
Wilder, who defender his WBC heavyweight title against Luis Ortiz on Saturday night, had said Hearn ‘is just another white man milking a black man’
Negotiations are underway for a fight between Joshua and Wilder potentially later this year
‘It’s easy. It’s about time for somebody to say it and come out with it and I don’t care who hears it. I don’t hold my voice and I don’t have any filters, I speak what I think.’
Wilder moved closer to a fight with Joshua by dispatching Ortiz with a 10th round knockout though it was far from a straightforward victory.
Prior to that, Saunders, the WBO middleweight champion, took aim at Wilder for his attack on Hearn.
‘He is a racist c*** I think, I personally think he is,’ Saunders told iFL TV. ‘Questions about promoters using fighters, he’s got a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
‘When I read them, I thought you can’t be saying that. I’ve got mates from all different nationalities and you can’t come out and say that. It’s unprofessional.’
Middleweight champion Saunders suggested Wilder ‘had a chip on his shoulder’
Wilder made hard work of Cuban Ortiz before eventually winning in the 10th round
Wilder will want to face Joshua next but talks have stalled over the split of the purse
Hearn has been locked in negotiations with Wilder’s team about a fight with Joshua later this year but the purse split is proving an obstacle.
Wilder believes he is worth at least 50 per cent of any split while Hearn insists Joshua should get the bigger share.
Wilder has agreed to take on Joshua, who fights Joseph Parker in Cardiff on March 31, ‘in his own back yard.’
Saunders, however, said he is only interested in seeing one heavyweight contest, and that is Joshua against Tyson Fury.
He added: ‘I just want to see that, I don’t care about anything else. I want to see Tyson ‘brup’ him up.
‘I have a lot of time for Joshua, he is a respectable man and he has done so much for the sport. But I know Tyson Fury, I know what character he is and how his mind ticks and what he would bring to the table in the a fight like that. ‘He would bring another 30 per cent from the Klitschko performance.’