Anthony Joshua is confident of the outcome should he face Dillian Whyte for a second time in their professional careers.
The two heavyweights have been in talks to reignite their rivalry that last played out in the ring back in 2015 – an Anthony Joshua knockout victory for the British title.
Since then, Joshua has twice been champion of the world, but is out of the title picture following two losses to Oleksandr Usyk. Whyte has mounted a top level campaign of his own, falling short at the final hurdle against Tyson Fury.
This stage in both of their careers seems well-suited to a second fight, but Whyte threw it into doubt recently by taking issues with a rematch clause on AJ’s side.
Promoter Eddie Hearn explained the thinking behind the contract term to Boxing Social.
“A lot of people talk about rematch clauses. When there’s such a huge A-side in the fight, you have to do your job as a promoter. Every huge name that I’ve worked with in boxing has a rematch in their fights.
Secondly, it’s me that requests that – and let me tell you the main reason why. Anthony Joshua is about to fight Deontay Wilder for 50-60 million dollars. He’s choosing to take a dangerous fight a few months before, where, if he loses, he’s really quite out in the wilderness.”
Joshua’s side have now taken the rematch out of the contract, making it a one-fight deal and hopefully clearing the way to getting a signature from Whyte.
Joshua, according to Hearn, didn’t care for it anyway. The promoter relayed his words on the matter.
“‘I don’t give a f**k about the rematch clause, I’m gonna knock him out. Just tell him to sign the contract.'”
Hearn then confirmed that the latest version of the contract had no second fight, very little promotional requirements and the same date of August 12 at London’s O2 Arena.
Despite the apparent simplicity, the promoter is still concerned that the bout won’t happen, and also expressed a distaste at the fact that Whyte was providing details about the talks to the media.
Should the fight happen, it’s expected to be announced in the next week.