By Jake Tiernan: Eddie Hearn confirms that Anthony Joshua will NOT be fighting a rematch against Dillian Whyte on August 12th after the offer that he made to Dillian’s management wasn’t to their expectations for the fight.
Hearn is looking for another option from a short list of fighters, and he’s not giving any hints about who that could be that Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) will be fighting. He says the Saudis would prefer that Joshua not fight because they don’t want to jeopardize their December event.
Hearn did confirm that Joshua will be fighting Deontay Wilder in December, but of course, that depends on AJ winning his tune-up fight in August.
Agit Kabayel’s name has been floated as a possible opponent for Joshua’s August 12th fight, but Hearn said he’s just one of the names that they’re looking at.
It’s risky for Joshua to be fighting anyone in August because if he suffers an injury or loses, he can forget about fighting in December.
Whyte being out of the running for Joshua’s next fight won’t upset the fans too much, as there’s not much interest in a rematch from the boxing world. Dillian has arguably lost his last two fights, and looks washed up beyond belief.
Hearn admits that what Joshua doesn’t need is an opponent that he knocks out in the first round because that’s not going to help him prepare for the Wilder fight.
The way Dillian looked in folding against Tyson Fury last year, it’s possible that Joshua would knock him out inside three rounds and get nothing out of the fight.
Hearn denies Whyte offered $10 million for Joshua rematch
“No, it’s not true at all. We made them an offer which they made clear is nowhere near their expectations, and quite honestly, there were very little expectations after that,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about Dillian Whyte & his team not asking for $10 million for a fight against Anthony Joshua on August 12th. “They never asked for ten million. I’m not sure where that came from, but it’s not the case.”
That would be crazy for Whyte to get $10M for a fight against Joshua at this point because the PPV buys and the gate likely wouldn’t cover the combined purses for him and Joshua.
“He may be on a long list. Anyone in the top 15,” said Hearn when asked if Agit Kabayel is a possibility for Joshua’s August 12th fight. “I don’t mind being honest. AJ is going to fight Deontaay Wildeer in December. That is our 100% focus.
“So he needs a fight against someone who is going to allow him to work on under the lights everything he’s been working on with Derrick James. There’s no point fighting a fight against a guy he’s going to take out in a round.
“It’s difficult to fight an elite top five guy when you’re fighting Deontay Wilder in four months. So we’re in a difficult situation, but it is what it is. We want him to fight. I don’t think Saudi wants him to fight because they want him to be ready for Deontay Wilder in December.
“We all feel as a team that it would be beneficial for his preparation to have that fight in August. I don’t think a Jarrell Miller fights going to happen, but who knows what’s going to happen in the future. You know my feelings, and I’m not going to go back there now.
“Kabayel is a European champion. He’s on a list of four or five, but we need to close it out this weekend, really, if he’s [Joshua] going to fight on August 12th. We are up against a timeline.
“We have a lot of fights to get out. We may end up merging the July 29th show into August 12th,” said Hearn.
