Despite the news of Deontay Wilder possibly fighting Luis Ortiz and mandatory challenger Bermaine Stiverne waiting in line next, Eddie Hearn isn’t done pursuing the WBC champion.
It has been confirmed that the promoter made at least three different offers to Wilder’s team regarding a fight against Dillian Whyte. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ declined them all. The biggest reason seems to be that Wilder doesn’t see Whyte as an important opponent.
“We have made three really good offers. Wilder’s team have got some issues they need to solve with their mandatory challenger, but we’ve offered them a big, big deal and I think they are interested. It should be a great fight,” said Hearn in an interview with GQ.
Like he’s said before, Hearn believes that people avoid fighting Whyte because of his pre-fight antics.
“No one really wants to fight Dillian Whyte because he is a right handful, he has got a great chin, he’s got a great work-rate, he’s strong and he can punch. To be honest, he’s a right pain in the arse in press conferences and you may end up having a roll around with him before you get into the ring, so he’s dangerous,” told Hearn.
Apparently, the negotiations for Wilder-Ortiz have been stalled due to WBC ordering Wilder to defend his title against Stiverne. The mandatory challenger has refused to step aside for Ortiz and wants to face Wilder next.
The midst of all of this, Hearn is trying to get Whyte in the same ring as Wilder and put the winner against Anthony Joshua.
“But if Wilder wants to build his name in the UK ahead of a potential unification fight with Joshua, this fight would be perfect. Of course, if Wilder loses, that’s the big fight with Joshua out the window, so it is risky… for both of them. The funny thing is that Anthony Joshua has four opponents he really wants to fight: the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder… and Dillian Whyte. For some reason, AJ enjoyed his first fight with Whyte so much he wants to do it again. So if Whyte can win a heavyweight title, that fight would be massive in this country,” commented the promoter.