Duco confirms negotiations for Joseph Parker to fight Anthony Joshua in 2018

The wheels are in motion to lock down a date for a heavyweight unification title bout between Joseph Parker and England's Anthony Joshua, promoters Duco have confirmed.

CEO David Higgins told media on Wednesday that the fight was one of several options on their table, and the one they are the most interested in working towards for early 2018.

Higgins said he'd been trading emails with Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn, and both teams have the agreement from their respective fighters for a bout to unify the IBF, WBA and WBO titles.

"What we're saying is that Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua have signalled that they potentially fight next, as in March or April," he stated at a press conference at Duco headquarters.

However it comes with one major caveat, with Higgins stressing that the terms must be "fair and reasonable" in regards to the percentage of the pay packet on offer for the South Aucklander.

"Our message to the Joshua camp is yes, we will take the fight. But the deal has to respect Joseph having earnt a genuine world title. 

"The starting point for negotiations is obviously 50/50 but we would acknowledge that Joshua, if the fight were to happen in his home nation, he has a big fan base there.

"It might go a little his way, but not a lot."

Australian Lucas Browne, whose name has been circulating heavily in recent weeks, is another option, with Top Rank's Bob Arum also putting forth a couple of choices of his own.

The promotional kingpin has a date booked in Las Vegas for March 10, where he's proposed that Parker take on Bryant Jennings, a 22-2 fighter from Philadelphia.

Arum has also offered a fight out of China, one which would bring less exposure but a considerably higher pay grade.

Whether those are simply being used as leverage for the negotiations with Joshua's camp is uncertain, but a fight against the British phenomenon, currently the brightest star in the boxing universe, is clearly their preference.

It's a viewpoint that Parker himself is in strong accordance with.

"I want to fight Joshua," says the 25-year-old, who's fresh off a unanimous decision win over Hughie Fury in Manchester.

"He's got two belts, I have one belt. I want to test his chin and put on a great show.

"He said he wants to unify the belts, so there's Wilder, then there's me."

American Deontay Wilder currently holds the WBC's heavyweight crown and is just days removed from an eye-catching KO finish of Bermane Stiverne in New York.

"Those other fighters are good fighters and I know I could beat them, but the ultimate fight is to fight [Joshua] or Wilder.

"Joshua's the preferred option for us."

Hearn has his sights set on a showdown between Joshua and Wilder at Wembley at some stage during the English summer, where a win over Parker in early 2018 would pave the way for a titanic unification headliner.

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