RINGSIDE at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday, Dillian Whyte pronounced his hopes of fighting Anthony Joshua dead.
The O2 is on hold for him for an alternative fight on April 20, with potential opponents Alexander Povetkin, Dominic Breazeale and Luis Ortiz being targeted.
Whyte’s personal preference would be Dominic Breazeale to resolve the mandatory challenger for Deontay Wilder’s WBC heavyweight title.
“The Joshua fight is dead so we move on,” Whyte said. “Let’s see what Eddie [Hearn] can deliver in the next couple of days.”
Wembley Stadium had been booked for an Anthony Joshua fight on April 13. That is almost certain to be cancelled. “Doesn’t look like it [will happen]. If he fights Dillian Whyte it’ll be May or June, but we’ve also held April 20 here for Dillian Whyte so we’ll see what happens this week,” promoter Eddie Hearn told Boxing News.
Expect Joshua to fight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller on June 1 in Madison Square Garden in New York.
“[Whyte] fight not totally dead, no, but it is looking like Jarrell Miller,” Hearn said.
Miller is hardly a household name, not in America and certainly not in Britain. But the money on offer for Joshua to fight him will still be massive. “Yeah,” Hearn said, “but also if we can’t deliver the fight that we want to deliver here, it’s a great to go and break the US market. I think what he’ll do over there will be incredible. I think he’ll be huge over there and I think it will build a potential fight, if Wilder wins, makes that fight even bigger and we know how big [Tyson] Fury [against] Joshua is here anyway. I just think it’s a great move for him and I think it’s a tough fight, I really do. Over there new experience, new ring, new canvas, new commission, all this kind of stuff. It’s not going to be easy.”
