EDDIE HEARN IS willing to offer WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder up to $8 million to go head-to-head with Dillian Whyte in Brooklyn this year.
Whyte has catapulted himself into calculations for a world title tilt after the Englishman’s unanimous decision victory against Joseph Parker at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday.
A rematch against IBO, IBF, WBA and WBO holder Anthony Joshua – who is scheduled to face Alexander Povetkin at Wembley in September – on 13 April next year is a possibility.
However, Hearn wants American star Wilder – who is also in discussions with Joshua regarding a blockbuster bout – to put his belt on the line against Whyte.
“I’d probably go up to $7m or $8m for Deontay Wilder to fight Dillian Whyte now. I’ll be making Wilder an offer this week for Dillian Whyte again,” Hearn said.
“We could do it in America. We could do it in Brooklyn.
“Wilder seems to be worried about coming to the UK so we will do it in Brooklyn. It will make fortunes for the pair of them.”
Hearn added: “Wilder will want to fight in October or November. I know everyone is like ‘Oh, who to believe’ but they are painful people to deal with.
“Why wouldn’t he fight Dillian Whyte? He must look at that last round and think, ‘Yeah’. Without that last round he probably thinks, ‘He’s a handful’, but that last round showed… Wilder is a huge puncher so he will think it’s an easy fight and he gets $7m or $8m for it.”
“Dillian has just beaten Parker convincingly,” Hearn said. “He put him down and it was only the end that made everyone go, ‘Oh wow’.
“I thought he was in control of the fight, much heavier hands. He drained the energy of Parker.
“Parker was holding non-stop and Dillian was being rough, he does that and he drains you. That is what happened to Parker.
“Of course the British public want Joshua against Deontay Wilder but if that doesn’t happen then there is only one other fight they want: Whyte. That won’t be until April though so Whyte has to fight in the meantime.
“Whyte is a big fight for AJ. It’s massive but I would like Dillian Whyte to fight Wilder. Wilder hasn’t got an opponent for November. We could do that on DAZN, on Sky Box Office.
“Dillian will fight in November or December. Dereck Chisora is a big fight. Everything is held up. If Wilder doesn’t want to fight Dillian then we have to look at Chisora or Jarrell Miller.”
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