Dillian Whyte has spoken out after receiving a contract offer to fight Anthony Joshua.
‘AJ’ is targeting a return to the ring in August ahead of a proposed fight with Deontay Wilder in December. Promoter Eddie Hearn previously confirmed that an offer had been made to Whyte for a rematch of their 2015 bout, which saw Joshua earn a KO victory, but suggested that the Brixton fighter had priced himself out of negotiations.
Whye responded last week by stating that he was willing to fight the former world champion but had heard nothing since receiving an initial offer. Hearn insists that he is keen for an agreement to be reached quickly but Whyte has suggested that the negotiations have already produced some complicated twists.
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“Well we had a contract, the contract’s with my lawyer and my lawyers have gone back to him. But there’s a lot of things that have been said publicly that are not happening when we’re negotiating.” Whyte told talkSPORT.
“It’s like this, (Hearn) said, ‘We’re gonna send a simple contract,’ and then they sent a very complicated contract with a lot of hoops and a lot of hooks to hook me in.
“I just want a simple contract, simple fight, winner moves on and has a big fight in Saudi Arabia. This fight for me is about the opportunity, it’s not about the money, that’s why I’m taking the fight for the money they’ve offered me.
“But now they’re trying to put a rematch clause in there that ties me up for a year and messes everything up, I’m not interested in that.”
Rematch clauses have been a common theme for Joshua’s team in recent years, most recently losing a two-fight series with Oleksandr Usyk. ‘AJ’ is reportedly in discussions with Wilder over a fight in Saudi Arabia - as part of an event that could also include Tyson Fury and Usyk - but Whyte wants the chance to fight his way into those discussions.
“Obviously the big carrot and the big prize is to fight Deontay Wilder in December in Saudi Arabia,” Whyte admitted. “I would love to fight Joshua, beat him, then go on and fight Wilder and beat him.”
