Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn believes the former world champion was "too big a name" to get into the ring and face off with Dillian Whyte on Saturday.
The Brit is expected to return next year, with Whyte one of his main prospective opponents given their history in the amateurs as well as during their professional careers. And the pair had an awkward encounter at ringside at Wembley Arena over the weekend when Joshua came face to face with Whyte at ringside.
But promoter Hearn never had plans for the two-time unified world heavyweight champion to do much more after Whyte edged out Jermaine Franklin. Joshua was at ringside watching his potential next opponent, and was impressed as he watched his fellow Brit hand his opponent a first career loss.
Asked by IFL TV if there were plans for the pair to face off in the ring, Hearn replied: "Nah, I think we're past that, now. He's too big of a name to get involved in all that. But he wants great fights, Dillian Whyte, that'd be two Londoners who are one-apiece, the third one would be huge so we'll see what happens.
"AJ's a stadium fight wherever he goes so we'll see what happens over the next [few weeks]. Let Dillian have his rest, he had a tough 12 rounds there, and let's see what happens."
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Hearn was sat with Joshua as he watched on from ringside, and he explained that the former champion was impressed with Whyte's performance to get back in the win column. The Brit was returning from a knockout defeat to Tyson Fury earlier this year, and was taken the distance by the unbeaten Franklin.
"He thought it was a great fight," Hearn said of Joshua's thoughts. "After the first five or six rounds I thought Franklin was controlling the fight and we're looking at it thinking 'maybe you're going to fight Jermaine Franklin next'. He said 'I'll fight any of them' and it was obviously Dillian Whyte that cam through, that's the fight he wants and whether thats in March or June-July, we'll have to see."
Whyte was unimpressed with Joshua's behaviour at ringside, telling Seconds Out after the fight: "I just spudded him and spudded me hard. I said, 'Relax, bro, why are you so tense it's just a spud, be easy, relax we're not fighting. I just saw him and said 'yo' and he thumped my fist, I said, 'Bro, you're always tense and moving mad, just take it easy, man. You don't need to be so stiff all the time."
