Eddie Hearn must be some kind of Svengali — he’s managed to convince the boxing fandom public that Deontay Wilder vs. Dillian Whyte is the “must see” fight instead of Wilder vs. AJ. Personally, I’d like to see a unification between the two champs. Whyte beat a guy that Johann Duhaupas knocked out, only not as impressively. He won — and some question whether he deserved the verdict — a split against shopworn journeyman Chisora. And that’s it. He has nothing on his resume that says “this guy DESERVES a title shot.” If he did, why hasn’t Hearn signed a rematch with AJ if the guy is all that? AJ and Wilder are the sport’s two most high-profile, most viable heavyweights. Both just got mandatories out of the way and have nothing to prevent them from fighting in the spring. So if you got to choose who Wilder fights next, would you pick AJ or Whyte? And why would you pick the one you did?
I couldn't possibly care less about Wilder - Whyte. No need to drag this out into some protracted drama, just make Wilder - AJ.
Would prefer AJ vs Wilder But I dont think it happens because Wilder's team is pricing him out of the fight, despite the fact the fight is going to pay him 10-15 times more than what he would get from rematching the fat boy carnival clown he knocked over last night (the standard Wilder "defence" of his title). At the end of the day, it seems that pride is more important to Wilders team than money. Or maybe they are just chicken and would rather bum it up and collect chump change for another 3-4 years.
Whyte. Simple reason being that they can’t have AJ - Wilder in March because it needs to be in front of 90k people at Wembley. I’d rather AJ vs Parker in March and Wilder vs Whyte or whatever can he decides. Then a massive unification in the summer.
Wilder vs Joshua is the fight we all want to see. Hearn's under pressure from Whyte to get him a title shot hence this unneccessary stumbling block.
Wilder/Whyte would be entertaining and whilst I see the reasoning from Hearn's perspective (increasing Wilder's UK profile, getting one of his other fighters a title shot), it just doesn't really interest me for one simple reason; Whyte isn't much (if at all) better than Stiverne circa 2015 so I don't have much faith in him ending Wilder's embarrassing reign as a titlist. I'd much rather see Wilder face Joshua, Parker, or Ortiz (subject to his impending fitness test).
AJ Wilder... with that viciousness tonight he deserves it. Not his fault PED guys couldnt fight... he was going to Russia and the fight still didn;t happen. Was hoping for Whyte before tonight but he made a very loud statement and AJ needs to happen.. I even think AJ may be in trouble, Wilder seems loose in the head, no mercy
Obviously Joshua vs Wilder. Wilder has no interest in fighting Whyte but may need a fight before the summer so Brazeale v Wilder would be the one as it is already carrying a bit of beef between the 2 of them aswell as Brazeale being a better height for Wilder in preperation for the unification fight. I just hope team Wilder fully accept the Joshua fight happens in the UK in the summer time and he is getting the smaller cut of the money. I hope Wilder doesnt price himself out and demand it be in the USA and walk away from negotiations due to that. Unless Hearn and AJ want to take themselves over to America, that would be cool but i cant see them missing out on another 90,000 Wembley sell out.
Wilder is avoiding Whyte like the plague. If he fought him and won comfortably then he increases his AJ purse and reputation tenfold. But he won't fight Whyte because he is scared of losing to him. Dillon may be crude but he is a handful for ANYONE at HW.
This is the type of bull people keep repeating because they don't really want to see Joshua fight Wilder. Wilder is too dangerous for a cash cow like Joshua who could reign for a while if he avoids Wilder. What price did Wilder DEMAND that priced him out? I've read NOTHING from Wilder that demanded some outrageous fee to fight Anthony Joshua. Nothing.
He's the reigning WBC heavyweight champion with six defenses under his belt. He's got twice as many fights as Joshua. Wilder doesn't need Whyte to "raise his profile." Everyone in Cardiff last week, when Joshua asked who he should fight next, yelled WILDER. They know who he is. Wilder's team isn't insisting Anthony Joshua fight someone else before fighting Wilder. Joshua's promoter is the one insisting Wilder fight someone else first. It's the biggest fight that can be made in the division. EVERYONE knows it. Only one side is insisting one of the combatants fight someone else first. That speaks volumes about who is delaying this.