The way Eddie Hearn tells it, Dillian Whyte priced himself out of a rematch with Anthony Joshua, the working date August 12th. The way Whyte tells it, Hearn/Joshua never really wanted the fight all along and were just “using” Whyte’s name to give AJ some credibility……. “they’re trying to keep his name good and make it look like he’s trying to have big fights,” as Whyte put it while speaking today with Talk Sport.
Whyte says he is very much willing to fight Joshua, that he is currently in training camp getting himself ready to fight Joshua, but that he “never felt the fight was real.” Whyte, 29-3(19) says he “100 precent” wants to fight Joshua, stating how he has “heard nothing” from Hearn.
“The fight’s just collapsed, there’s been no communication on the fight,” Whyte said. “It’s just weird, it just never seemed real from the start. AJ’s in a period of transition and they don’t want him to have a serious fight, but they’re trying to keep his name good and make it look like he’s trying to have big fights. We’ve had one three-line e-mail about the fight, no conversations at all. We’ve been trying to contact Eddie for one month, multiple phone calls and e-mails, they’ve just gone missing. It was just one offer than came in. I’m in training camp now, training to fight AJ. But I’ve never felt the fight was real. I’ve been negotiating with Eddie Hearn for years, I know when Eddie wants a fight, he calls you, he bugs you. I haven’t spoken to Eddie Hearn for one month.”
This is interesting stuff from Whyte and it sure would/will be equally interesting hearing what Hearn has to say in response. Does AJ look at the Whyte fight, a rematch as it would have been, as too dangerous, especially ahead of that talked-of mega-money clash with Deontay Wilder? This is certainly how Whyte views the situation. If Whyte did “price himself out,” then why was there no second offer, or a third offer? How badly did Hearn/AJ really want this fight? Is Joshua looking for an “easier,” or “safer” opponent for August?
Whyte says he feels used.
“They wanna use my name as a scapegoat to say, ‘Oh, we tried to fight Dillian Whyte but couldn’t make it,’” he said. “If they wanted to fight me, Eddie Hearn could’ve made the fight.”
It would be nice to know what the initial (and only) offer Whyte was presented with via that short and sweet e-mail, and whether Whyte really did ask for more money. Again, let’s wait and see what Hearn has to say in response to what Whyte has said.