Anthony Joshua is looking for a suitable opponent for a heavyweight bout on August 12 according to his promoter, Eddie Hearn.
Initially, the plan was that the Nigerian-born British boxer will face fellow British boxer Dillian Whyte on August 12, which was anticipated to be a block-burster.
However, after lengthy negotiations between the representatives of the two British boxers, the deal collapsed.
The fight was supposed to be a dress rehearsal for Anthony Joshua who is preparing to face American boxer Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia in December.
Eddie Hearn claimed that talks for Joshua Vs Whyte’s bout collapsed because Whyte refused to accept the financial proposition from Joshua’s camp.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Hearn claimed that Whyte didn’t ask for £10 million for the bout as it is being speculated.
“It’s not true at all”, Hearn stressed. “We made him an offer, they made it clear it was nowhere near their expectations. Quite honestly there were very few negotiations after that. He never asked for £10m, I’m not sure where that came from, but it’s not the case.”
Now that Whyte seems to have been taken off the radar, Anthony Joshua would have to face a different contender for the August 12 bout.
Hearn said the contender must be a boxer rated in the top 15 in the heavyweight category. And the boxing promoter claimed that German boxer Agit Kabayel could be considered.
“He may be on a long list. I mean, anyone in the top 15″, the boxing promoter said.
“Look, I don’t mind being honest; Joshua is gonna fight Deontay Wilder in December, that’s 100 percent our focus, so he needs a fight against someone who is going to allow him to work on – under the lights – everything he’s been working on with (coach) Derrick James.
“There’s no point fighting a fight against someone he’s going to take out in a round. It’s difficult to fight an elite, top-three, or top-five guy when you’re fighting Deontay Wilder four months later.
“We’re in a little bit of a difficult position, it is what it is. We want him to fight, I don’t think Saudi (Arabia) want him to fight, because they want him to be ready for Deontay Wilder in December. But we all feel as a team that it would be beneficial for his preparation to have that fight in August.”
