Eddie Hearn Reveals Anthony Joshua Wanted Dillian Whyte, Could Risk Deontay Wilder Fight

Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua is the one who wanted to box Dillian Whyte in August.

Joshua and Whyte are set to meet on August 12 in a rematch, and although many expect Joshua to win, it is a risky fight for him. According to Eddie Hearn, a matchup with Deontay Wilder has been agreed to for December, so Joshua is taking the chance that fight doesn’t happen.

“This one is wild because AJ has got the Wilder fight locked in for December. We had meetings last week with the Saudis. Obviously, that’s one of the biggest fights in boxing, and he wanted to fight in the interim. You know, he’s been working with Derrick James, he wanted to have that fight and he was insistent it was Dillian Whyte. I wasn’t over the moon because I know it’s dangerous,” Hearn told Talk Sport. “It’s a fight that is built off emotion, they don’t like each other. You saw what happened last time at the O2, it’s going to be an absolute firefight on August 12. That’s why it’s so dangerous. You’ve got that Deontay Wilder fight in December, he could’ve just waited and had an easy, gimme fight at the O2 – but he’s decided to roll the dice.

“I don’t know how the Whyte fight goes, but we’ve been told categorically that the deal on the table is not the deal if he loses to Dillian Whyte,” Hearn continued. “They didn’t want him to fight Dillian Whyte. It was almost like, ‘Please, don’t fight Dillian Whyte. You don’t need to. We’ve got this fight in December. But AJ was like, ‘No. I want to fight.’”

The hope for Eddie Hearn is Anthony Joshua can get past Dillian Whyte and the fight with Deontay Wilder does happen. It would be a massive scrap and the winner would get a title shot, so Hearn still wants it to happen.

Do you think Anthony Joshua beats Dillian Whyte?