Dillian Whyte blasts Anthony Joshua fight collapse – ‘they don’t want him to have a serious fight’
- Seb Sternik
- 23 June 2023
Dillian Whyte has been out of action since his majority decision victory over Jermaine Franklin last November.
Dillian Whyte believes he won't get his rematch with Anthony Joshua after suggesting the potential heavyweight clash has 'collapsed'.
Former world champion Joshua is expected to return to the ring on August 12 as he prepares for a possible December showdown with Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
However, Whyte is adamant that Joshua and his team are not serious about a summer rematch.
The two British heavyweights went head-to-head back in 2015 with Joshua picking up a seventh round TKO victory.
The 35-year-old told talkSPORT: "The fight's just collapsed, there's been no communication on the fight.
"It's just weird, it just never seemed real from the start. AJ's in a position of transition and they don't want him to have serious fight, but they're trying to keep his name good and make it look like he's trying to have big fights."
Whyte has also accused Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn of going 'missing', despite efforts to communicate.
He said: "We've had one three-line email about the fight, no conversations at all.
"We've been trying to contact Eddie Hearn for one month, multiple phone calls and emails, they've just gone missing."
Whyte believes he is being purposefully avoided, adding: "Listen, I'm no warm up fight for no-one, I'll give anyone hell on the night.
"One advantage I have over anyone fighting AJ is I'm able to get in his head mentally, I'm able to offset him and I'm able to drag him into a scrap because we have that energy and we have that history.
"Just that alone makes me a massive danger for him and they don't wanna risk the Wilder fight."
Whyte admitted he feels disrespected by Hearn, saying: "They wanna use my name as a scapegoat to say, 'Oh, we tried to fight Dillian Whyte but we couldn't make it.'
"If they wanted to fight me, Eddie Hearn could've made the fight...
"Of course I do [feel disrespected by Hearn] - why are you throwing my name around and doing a million interviews about fighting me when you're not actually negotiating the fight?"
