Former heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua is on the hunt for a new opponent for August 12 as he is keen to get into the ring before a proposed December bout against Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
According to Eddie Hearn, who promotes both heavyweights, the fight with Dillian Whyte is no longer possible after Whyte rejected the proposal sent to him.
“It’s not true (that Whyte asked for £10m),” Hearn told Boxing Social, addressing recent reports.
“It’s not true at all. We made him an offer, they made it clear it was nowhere near their expectations. Quite honestly there were very little negotiations after that. He never asked for £10m, I’m not sure where that came from, but it’s not the case.”
German boxer, Agit Kabayel has already been linked with Joshua and Hearn said, “He may be on a long list. I mean, anyone in the top 15.
“Look, I don’t mind being honest; Joshua is gonna fight Deontay Wilder in December, that’s 100 per cent our 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 (coach) Derrick James.
“There’s no point fighting a fight against someone he’s going to take out in a round. It’s difficult to fight an elite, top-three or top-five guy when you’re fighting Deontay Wilder four months later.
“We’re in a little bit of a difficult position, it is what it is. We want him to fight, I don’t think Saudi (Arabia) want him to fight, because they want him to be ready for Deontay Wilder in December. But we all feel as a team that it would be beneficial for his preparation to have that fight in August.”
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