By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – If Dillian Whyte won’t accept an immediate rematch with Dereck Chisora, promoter Eddie Hearn hopes to make a Deontay Wilder-Whyte fight for later this year.

London’s Whyte (20-1, 15 KOs) has told Hearn he wants a heavyweight title shot next, not a rematch with Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs). The first Whyte-Chisora fight, which Whyte won by split decision December 10 in Manchester, England, was an all-action slugfest that warranted at least honorable mention for “Fight of the Year” in 2016.

“He wants to go and challenge for a world title himself,” Hearn said before the final press conference for the James DeGale-Badou Jack fight Saturday night in Brooklyn. “He had a wonderful fight with Chisora, a very close fight. The public really want the rematch for that. But as always in tough fights, the winner doesn’t really want a rematch. You know, because he really wants to go and move on. The loser does [want a rematch], and it could’ve gone either way. So the fans want to see the rematch, but Dillian wants to fight for the title.”

Enter Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs), who will defend his WBC championship against Poland’s Andrzej Wawrzyk (33-1, 19 KOs) on February 25 in Birmingham, Alabama. If Wilder wins his next fight, his return from hand and biceps surgeries five months ago, Hearn would like to make a Wilder-Whyte fight in England in the spring.

It’s unclear when Wilder will need to make a mandatory defense of his title because Russia’s Alexander Povetkin (31-1, 23 KOs) failed another pre-fight test for a performance-enhancing drug before his December 17 bout with former WBC champ Bermane Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) in Moscow.

Povetkin and Stiverne were supposed to fight for the interim WBC title, but Stiverne refused to participate after Povetkin’s positive test for ostarine was revealed by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association on December 16. A day later, Povetkin instead knocked out France’s Johann Duhaupas (34-4, 21 KOs), Stiverne’s substitute, in the sixth round.

“I would love to see Dillian Whyte against Deontay Wilder,” Hearn said. “But that’s a dangerous fight for Deontay Wilder because Dillian Whyte can punch, he’s game. And I don’t feel like – I mean, [Anthony] Joshua has stepped up. I don’t think Deontay Wilder is stepping up. He’s had the injury of course, which hasn’t helped him.

“But I’d like to see him with the Stiverne guys, the Povetkin guys – of course he’s got the problems now. But let’s see Wilder do that in the summer, or May, or something like that – same time as us [Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko]. And then [Joshua and Wilder will] meet in the fall. But I like Deontay Wilder. I think he’s a colorful character. I think he’s a very talented fighter. You’ve got two great athletes there [in Joshua and Wilder] – very fast and can really punch. It’s a wonderful heavyweight fight.”

Hearn would like to watch Wilder beat Whyte before matching him against Joshua, assuming, of course, Joshua can overcome Wladimir Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs) in their April 29 showdown at Wembley Stadium in London.

“Whyte won’t fight now until May,” Hearn said. “So that could be the rematch with Chisora. That could be the fight I’m talking about with Deontay Wilder. I mean, if that’s gonna set off an Anthony Joshua fight [with Wilder], great. It’s two guys, we can compare it. [Whyte] went seven rounds [with Joshua] and then [see] with Wilder.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.