DILLIAN WHYTE will get a chance to exact revenge on Anthony Joshua in August.
First he will have to accept an offer from AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn which was sent to Whyte over the weekend.
In December 2015 the two heavyweights met in a grudge match with bragging rights and the British title up for grabs.
At that time Joshua had fought 14 times while Whyte on two more occasions. Their long-term rivalry dated back to the amateurs when in 2009 Whyte won on points having dropped Joshua in the first round.
Six years later Joshua proved to be the more polished and powerful of the two and stopped Whyte in seven rounds. However, in the opening session the whole affair boiled over when punches were thrown after the bell resulting in a melee which had the potential to turn nasty.
The feeling has always been that one day they would fight one another once again and Hearn told BBC Sport that the ball is now in Whyte’s court.
“The offer was made to Dillian over the weekend. We are waiting for his response to that and we’ll talk today (Monday),” Hearn said.
“Dillian has a lot of value in the rematch,” he added.
“This is not an opponent for Joshua, but a big fight between two world-class heavyweights and huge British names.
“The negotiations will be difficult but both AJ and Whyte want the fight.”
Should Joshua win then all roads seemingly lead to facing Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia in December.
“Our plan, which we’ve stressed, is for AJ to box on 12 August and in December again against Deontay,” Hearn said.
Joshua and Whyte both got back to winning ways in their last fights- against the same opponent.
American Jermaine Franklin journeyed to the UK in November pushing Whyte all the way before the Brit won a majority decision. Just over four months later the Michigan heavyweight was back at London’s O2 Arena to face Joshua. This time around Franklin could do little to trouble AJ losing wide on points in an underwhelming encounter.
