Whyte fears Hearn won’t stick to word after giving Joshua update

Dillian Whyte fears Eddie Hearn isn’t serious about making the Anthony Joshua rematch after revealing the promoter has not spoken to him about making the fight. The Matchroom Boxing promoter has consistently told media members that the winner of Whyte vs Jermaine Franklin on November 26 is the ‘frontrunner’ to face AJ next, but Whyte claims he hasn’t been informed personally.

Both men fought each other as professionals back in 2015 after a fierce amateur rivalry. Joshua came away the victor via seventh-round knockout but was badly wobbled by a left hook earlier in the contest. At the time, Joshua had looked virtually invincible and despite having his way for the majority of the contest, this moment stuck in the minds of boxing fans.

Since that day, a rematch has been brewing and now their career paths have crossed once again with the pair recently falling to defeat. Joshua sustained back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, dropping his WBA (super), WBO, and IBF titles in the process.

Whyte, meanwhile, was knocked out by Tyson Fury in April when he was given his long-awaited shot at the WBC title after over 1000 days as the mandatory challenger. Everything looks to be in place for the AJ rematch to be made, all Whyte has to do is beat Franklin at the O2 Arena on Saturday. However, The Body Snatcher claims he has only heard about the rematch from second-hand sources despite Hearn repeatedly suggesting the fight is in the pipeline.

“We just have that thing where me and him fight, sparks fly. It’s a fight that will make you run faster, and make you diet better. It’s a fight that would make me go to bed at 7 o’clock every day.

“He [Joshua] was fighting Usyk and he kept on talking about me and I said to him, ‘bro relax, focus on your fight because it’s a hard fight, bless you and be safe, we can talk about it after your fight and my fight’ – it’s just that we want to beat each other up.”