Dillian Whyte has said his proposed fight with Anthony Joshua ‘doesn’t seem real’, accusing matchmakers of not being ‘serious’ about the contest.
Eddie Hearn, who promotes both heavyweights, has claimed that an offer has been sent to Whyte over a rematch with Joshua, who knocked out his fellow Briton in 2015.
Such a rematch would serve as a prelude to a potential fight between Joshua and Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia this December, according to Hearn. However, Whyte is sceptical of the roadmap.
“[Me vs Joshua] is a big fight, it’s eight weeks away, and there’s no communication – nothing,” Whyte told Sky Sports on Thursday (15 June). “Just nothing, nothing at all. They’re just wasting time messing about. It just doesn’t seem real.
“They’re trying to put me in the same position they did a few years ago, saying: ‘Oh, we’re trying to make the Joshua fight.’ These big fights take time. There’s lots of things that go on, there’s lots of small print, and this team want that and that team want this.
“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.”
Whyte, 35, last fought in November, outpointing Jermaine Franklin in London. The winner of that fight was due to box Joshua this spring, but it was in fact Franklin who was paired with the 33-year-old in April. Like in his clash with Whyte, the American lost to Joshua on points in London.
“This is heavyweight boxing, stranger things have happened,” Whyte said of a fight with Joshua materialising. “Obviously I will still train and try and stay focused and stay ready in case it happens, because I’ve been up for fighting Joshua since the day I lost to him in 2015.
“The score is 1-1 so far; I beat him in the amateurs, he beat me in the pros, so I want to get even. I would love nothing more than to have a chance to avenge my defeat.
“I’ll just go to war. I want to go to war, because I think that’s a good way to fight him – pressure him, back him up and start getting him on the back foot as early as possible. I’m strong enough, I’m big enough to do that. I carry enough power obviously to back him up and to knock him out.
“I’m someone that will always get in his head and forever be able to get in his head and forever be able to throw him off his gameplan. That’s just how it is. I think now’s a very good time for me to fight him, because lately he’s shown a lack of motivation. Whatever, I don’t know. Now’s a good time for me to get in his head, but also he will turn up for a fight with me as well. So, that’s what makes it good.”
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