By Charles Brun: Dillian Whyte proved that his promoter Eddie Hearn only offered Andy Ruiz Jr. $4 million and NOT the $5 million that he’d been talking about for a fight in June.
Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) has repeatedly been saying that Hearn offered former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Ruiz (33-2, 22 KOs) $5 million for a fight this summer, but that’s not the case. It was $4 million. There were offers from Hearn.
It just wasn’t as much as Dillian Whyte claiming to the fans. It looks terrible for Whyte that he exaggerated the offer by saying it was $5 million. The proposal was $4 million, but it could have been bumped up to $5 million.
With Whyte now scheduled to fight Alexander Povetkin next, that spoils any chance of an offer to Ruiz being increased to $5 million. Would Whyte attempt to back out of the Povetkin fight to face Ruiz? Probably not. Whyte can always fight Ruiz after the Povetkin fight if they can meet Andy’s asking price.
Ruiz was correct about the offer
Earlier on Sunday, Ruiz SLAMMED Whyte, calling him a liar about the s-called $5 million offer in this Tweet:
‘Yo @DillianWhyte stop clout chasing. You never offered $5M #lies.”
Perhaps Whyte should have checked with Hearn before firing back in an interview with IFL TV, saying that it was a $5 million offer Ruiz received for a fight in June. Whyte even went so far as to say he would produce the e-mail from Hearn, which he has.
Unfortunately for Whyte, it shows that the offer to Ruiz was for $4 million, NOT $5 million. It’s still a lot of money that Ruiz turned down, but there’s a big difference.
Fat boy @Andy_destroyer1 stop talking shit facts are facts stop come on #ALLBELLYANDNOHEART pic.twitter.com/g6YoMdeZtE
— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) April 26, 2020
At this point, it’s too late for the offer from Hearn to be sweetened to $5 million to Ruiz, and it’s doubtful that he would bump it up anyway. Whyte is scheduled to face 40-year-old Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) next.
There’s no telling whether that fight will need to get postponed. It doesn’t matter if the match gets postponed. The fact is, Whyte is facing Povetkin next, be it in the summer or the fall. After that, Whyte will be looking to challenge WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in February of 2021.
The only reason Matchroom wanted Ruiz was for him to fight Whyte this summer. Now that Whyte is facing Povetkin, there’s no point in discussing Ruiz any longer.
Ruiz vs. Whyte is no longer an issue
With so many people out of work in the UK right now, it’s not an excellent idea for Matchroom to revisit the negotiations with Ruiz Jr. for later this year. If they pay Ruiz Jr. $5 million and Whyte a similar amount, will the fight even break even if it takes place behind closed doors without fans?
Further, will British fans have the money to order Whyte vs. Ruiz Jr. on Sky Box Ofice pay-per-view? If the UK economy is still in the shutdown by summer, a lot of fans might not have the extra spending cash to plunk down to watch Ruiz and Whyte go at it.
The Ruiz Jr. vs. Whyte ship has sailed. It’s too bad Hearn didn’t make the $5 million offer to Ruiz that Whyte has been talking about because he probably would have gotten the fight.
There’s no way that Ruiz Jr. would have turned don $5 million to face Whyte in a non-title fight. That’s the same kind of money that Ruiz made in his first clash with Anthony Joshua last June in New York. After Ruiz Jr. got that big payday, he lived it up big time and purchased a lot of stuff. Ruiz wouldn’t turn down that kind of money, would he?