Wilder silence puts Whyte in line for AJ
ANTHONY Joshua is likely to fight Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April if a deal with Deontay Wilder cannot be thrashed out in the coming weeks.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has reserved the national stadium on April 13 with a view to making a fight against WBC heavyweight champion Wilder.
But after talks broke down over the summer, Wilder’s camp have not responded to subsequent correspondence from Hearn as they look to close a deal with Tyson Fury for a huge fight in December.
Hearn has now warned the Wilder team that they will need to resurrect negotiations in the near future if the American has any intention of following his proposed bout against Fury with a more lucrative matchup with Joshua, who fights Alexander Povetkin at Wembley on Saturday.
If the radio silence continues, then Joshua will face a rematch against Whyte, who beat the WBA, IBF and WBO champion in the amateurs before losing an entertaining showdown in the pro ranks in 2015.
Asked about Whyte, whose enhanced position internationally was underlined with a win over former WBO champion Joseph Parker in July, Hearn said: ‘You have to think we will do over 80,000 fans for Joshua-Povetkin and Whyte is a much bigger fight than Povetkin in Britain. On the world scene, Povetkin is well known and credible, but Whyte, with the history of the first fight, the build-up, it’s a huge fight.
‘The Whyte fight is not a priority. We don’t want Whyte next, we want Wilder next. The only fight Joshua wants next is Wilder.
‘But if it comes to a stage where they won’t even reply to us, how can you try to make the fight? If they don’t want the terms we discussed, OK, tell us the new ones. If they want 50-50, at least tell me, so we can discuss terms. It’s very strange. I think they think the Fury fight will happen. Maybe it will. But if they are going December 1, we will definitely want to know our next opponent before December 1.’
It is rumoured within boxing that Fury will announce the Wilder fight this week to draw attention away from Joshua. If Fury goes ahead with it, having only returned to the ring this summer following an absence of almost three years, Hearn is convinced Fury will lose and jeopardise his chances of landing a major payday against Joshua.
‘It appears that he is cashing out,’ Hearn said. ‘I don’t know if you had ambitions to try and be the king of the division that you would take a fight against Wilder where everyone knows you’re not ready. He’s smart enough to know he’s not match-fit for Deontay Wilder.
‘If Fury gets beat, he’s done. If Fury gets knocked out in that fight, the AJ fight will never happen.’