Deontay Wilder was handed a reality check this week.

It came when Eddie Hearn asked people in the streets of New York whether they know who Wilder is.

One responded with: “No, who’s that?”, while another said: “An NFL player?”

Pretty humiliating stuff.

Hearn added: “So, here we are out on the street in New York, and this is the problem.

“You have to have the man on the street. You have to hit the main people.

“If I was promoting the world heavyweight champion from America, who could talk like Deontay Wilder, who could fight like Deontay Wilder, every time someone walks past the question and the answer would be different.”

It’s for that reason that Hearn and Anthony Joshua are so eager for any fight against Wilder to take place in the United Kingdom, and why the American’s desire for a split purse seems ridiculous.

Joshua is a household name in the UK; he’s sold out Wembley Stadium and the Principality Stadium.

On the other hand, Wilder, despite being the WBC heavyweight champion and boasting a 39-0 record, remains relatively unknown in the US.

Yet the Bronze Bomber hasn’t let that knock his confidence.

Wilder has made a huge claim about Joshua fight

Not only does he believe he deserves 50 per cent of the split, he also thinks a fight against Joshua would be bigger than Floyd Mayweather’s mammoth bout against Conor McGregor in August.

Mayweather v McGregor attracted a worldwide audience and, according to UFC president Dana White, drew a record 6.7 million pay-per-view buys around the world.

Yet Wilder believes his contest against Joshua would be bigger.

Asked by TMZ whether it could be bigger than Mayweather v McGregor, Wilder replied: “Ten times as bigger. You know, of course I exaggerate when I say 10 times but you understand what I’m saying.

“This is overshadowing that for the simple fact that we’re heavyweights.”

Right. By that logic, was Joseph Parker’s win over Hughie Fury in September, a title fight between two heavyweights, bigger than Mayweather v McGregor?

Watch: Wilder speaks to TMZ

It’s clear that Wilder is simply trying to hype up the contest but he really doesn’t need to.

If Joshua is involved, boxing fans will be interested.