Eddie Hearn hints Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte may be off – ‘looking at two other opponents’
- Lewis Oldham
- 16 June 2023
Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn has hinted that the rematch between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte may not happen next.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn claims there are "two other" potential opponents for Anthony Joshua if he does not fight Dillian Whyte next.
Joshua and Whyte are both coming off victories over American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin. The two Brits beat their durable opponent on points.
The two heavyweights previously fought in December 2015 when they were still relatively inexperienced. They produced a seven-round thriller that Joshua won via knockout.
The pair are in talks over a rematch, and it is hoped that this will take place on August 12 at the O2 Arena or a stadium in the UK.
Joshua is also in talks to fight Deontay Wilder. This bout is likely to take place in Saudi Arabia in December.
Hearn has suggested that the "issue" in talks over Joshua vs Whyte "is the money".
"We've made an offer, they felt that offer was unacceptable," Hearn told IFL TV.
"We may be too far out on the money to make that fight. We're looking at two other opponents for August 12.
"It's not that it has to be Dillian - that's the fight AJ wanted.
"But if we've got the Deontay Wilder fight done [for December], we can fight someone else from the top 15 on August 12.
"But if we can't get the Wilder fight done, then we need a much bigger fight on August 12 or we look at Tyson Fury in September. I believe we're gonna get that fight made with Wilder."
Eddie Hearn on Frank Warren criticising Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte: “Tyson Fury just boxed Derek Chisora and he wants to complain about Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte? It's a great fight.” [@IFLTV]
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) June 8, 2023
He added: "The issue is the money Dillian wants, the money AJ wants.
"I don't think we can get to the number Dillian wants for that fight in all honesty. I think Dillian wants the fight, I think AJ wants the fight, but we may well run out of time."
This is likely a ploy on Hearn's part to speed up the negotiations, as Whyte will not want to miss out on this huge payday.
Hearn's comments were in response to Whyte, who has accused Joshua's team of "wasting time".
"It's a big fight, it's eight weeks away and there's no communication, nothing. They're just wasting time messing about…" Whyte said on Sky Sports.
"I don't think that they're serious about the fight.
"They're worrying about the fight and I don't blame them. If he's going to get £50million to fight Wilder in Saudi in December it just baffles me.
"Why would they take a chance fighting me? It doesn't make sense. So I'm not surprised to be honest."
