By Elliot Foster
Deontay Wilder has said that he will fight Dillian Whyte in the New Year –– providing Anthony Joshua is the gold at the end of the rainbow.
The WBC heavyweight king has his own business to attend to on Saturday (November 4) at Barclays Center in New York when he attempts to retain his crown against Bermane Stiverne in a rematch after Luis Ortiz, his original foe, failed a drugs test.
But the 32-year-old father-of-four, 38-0 (37 KOs), has so far turned down any advances from Eddie Hearn to lure him to the UK.
Hearn, the managing director of Matchroom Sport, has tabled a $ 3 million offer, plus a cut of the US TV money, for Wilder to travel and face the aforementioned ‘Body Snatcher’ Whyte.
London’s O2 Arena has been reserved on February 3 for a potential showdown between ‘The Bronze Bomber’ and Whyte, who won the WBC Silver heavyweight title with victory over Robert Helenius at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, as part of the undercard to Joshua’s successful defence of the WBA Super, IBF and IBO crowns against Frenchman Carlos Takam.
And Wilder, who has so far made five defences of his portion of the heavyweight world championship, has now thrown down the gauntlet to Hearn, declaring war on Joshua and ordering the promoter to guarantee a shot at UK boxing’s biggest star if he is to face Whyte.
“Hearn can say what he wants,” Wilder said. “Let me help you. You want Whyte and I want Joshua. Put them in a package and let me fight.
“I will knock out Whyte easy. I could do it with one hand tied behind my back.
“Kings don’t chase other kings. I got a kingdom and I brought all my king’s men and all the king’s horses and now I’m knocking on your kingdom doors.
“I declare war. I am declaring war upon AJ. I will not chase him. We are going to lure you in, you can only run for so long and so far.”
WBO champion Joseph Parker will be an easier fight to make and could happen as early as March but they may also have to deal with a WBA mandatory challenge.
The aforementioned Cuban fighter Ortiz had occupied that position prior to his failed test and there has been talk of a final eliminator to determine the status, though no official word on that has yet been made public.
Hearn, after the fight, outlined a three-fight plan for Joshua, with Wilder mentioned, but the WBC king must get past Stiverne for a second time before he even thinks about the prospect of earning at least $3 million to face Whyte before coming up against Joshua, should his plan turn out to become a reality.
