Eddie Hearn reveals that talks are underway for a rematch between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte for a possible stadium fight or at the O2 Arena in London for August 12.
Hearn states that he’ll be making an offer today to Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs), and he expects him to want more money. If the fight can’t be negotiated successfully, Hearn says Joshua has plenty of other options for the August 12th summer fight.
What Hearn wants to avoid is matching Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) against someone a little too tough because he’s got a lucrative fight ahead against Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia in December. If Joshua loses in August, he’ll miss out on his tremendous payday against Wilder.
Also, it’s important that Joshua doesn’t take a lot of punishment in his August 12th fight because there won’t be a lot of time for him to heal to get ready to face Deontay in December. Whyte is the ideal opponent for Joshua because he’s old, popular in the UK, and his punch resistance is gone.
As long as Joshua doesn’t get clipped by one of Whyte’s left hooks, he should be able to take him out fairly quickly. The 35-year-old Whyte has looked past it in his last two fights against Jermaine Franklin and Tyson Fury.
Whyte being presented with offer
“The Dillian Whyte fight is a very dangerous fight for AJ;
it’s a very ballsy fight to go into when you’ve got that payday against Deontay Wilder in December, but that’s his
preferred fight now. That fight’s got to get done, but that is his preferred opponent for August,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Anthony Joshua’s next potential fight on August 12th against Dillian Whyte.
“If you’re Deontay Wilder, and you’ve got all this money that you’ve never seen before with that kind of level of money, do you want to go and fight for peanuts against a nobody? Then the problem is
he don’t want to take a fight of any risk, which is understandable
“Then you go to a broadcaster, or you look at the ticket sales, and you look at what you can pay for a fight no one’s interested in of no risk, and then they’ll look at it and go, ‘Actually, I won’t bother. I’ll just go straight into December fight.’ His business, not mine
“AJ wants to fight in August. We’ve got offers being presented to
him today,” said Hearn when asked how close is he to having the fight negotiations with Whyte completed. “He’s going to want probably more money than the offer will be, and then we go from there.
“It’s a big fight. Dillian’s a big name in the division. I think those guys away from the massive fights. If Dillian doesn’t fight AJ, we
have to find him another fight and that’s where it starts to become difficult if it’s not Andy Ruiz or Zhang or those kinds of fights. I think it’s I think those world-class heavyweights that are just outside of those elite money fights are in a bit of a tough
spot.
“Hopefully, we can deliver a deal for Dillian that he’s pleased with and wants to fight and wants the opportunity, but obviously, he’s gonna have his demands as well,” Hearn said.
Joshua-Whyte stadium fight
“We’re looking at stadiums for that fight, but we have booked the O2 as well,” said Hearn. “So we haven’t decided where that fight will take place, but we have booked the O2. It’s also the football season’s underway, and the fixtures aren’t out for a while, so it’s difficult to play. okay
“When you talk about August, it’s June. So we need this fight announced in the next two to three weeks, really, but maybe even sooner. So yeah, we’ll see. Again, we’re not limited to Dillian Whyte. I just think it’s the right fight and I think it’s a great fight, but there are other options out there.
“Loads of people in the top. Filip Hrgovic could be an option, but that’s a very dangerous fight going into Deontay Wilder [clash]. Otto Wallin. Do you really want to fight a southpaw going into Deontay Wilder? Yeah, there are plenty of options. Zhang would be a great fight, but again, a southpaw. I have to see,” said Hearn about Joshua’s potential next opponent for August 12th.
