Whyte makes U-turn, agrees to face Joshua

British heavyweight boxer Dillian Whyte has changed his mind and announced his readiness to accept the financial terms for a rematch with two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on August 12 at Wembley Stadium.

“Earlier, we heard that our proposal was far from what they expected, so we didn’t even begin to do the second one. Now Dillian says he will accept it, so we sent him a contract to sign. If the deal is signed, the fight will take place in London,” Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn said.

Eddie Hearn claims Dillian Whyte will receive a contract for a rematch with long-term rival Anthony Joshua on August 12.

“We need to move at pace but if Dillian is serious, that fight can 100 per cent happen. This contract is not going to be difficult, it’s a set purse. There are no travel or extreme media obligations, it’s pretty simple. I would love the fight to happen and hopefully it will,” Hearn said.

Hearn’s response came after Whyte spoke to talkSPORT earlier on Friday. The boxer said; “The fight’s just collapsed, there’s been no communication on the fight. It’s just weird, it just never seemed real from the start.

“Joshua’s in a position of transition and they don’t want him to have a serious fight, but they’re trying to keep his name good and make it look like he’s trying to have big fights. We’ve had one three-line email about the fight, no conversations at all.

“We’ve been trying to contact Eddie Hearn for one month, multiple phone calls and emails, they’ve just gone missing. I’ve never felt the fight was real, I’ve been negotiating with Eddie Hearn for years, I know when Eddie wants a fight, he calls you, he bugs you. I haven’t spoken to Eddie Hearn for one month,” Whyte said.

The first pro fight between these boxers took place in December 2015. Joshua won by TKO in the seventh round. In recent performances in the ring, both boxers won on points against Jermain Franklin.

After facing Whyte, Joshua is hoping to meet former WBC champion Deontay Wilder in December. The proposed fight is set to take place in Saudi Arabia, with an undisputed heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk potentially on the same card.