ANTHONY JOSHUA could take a risky rematch with Dillian Whyte to help set him up for a super-fight against Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder.
Promoter Eddie Hearn had planned for AJ to rematch Whyte – who he stopped in 2015 – in a stadium this summer.
But that was before he revealed representatives in Saudi Arabia want Joshua to face either Wilder or Fury in the desert in December.
Hearn is set for talks in the Middle East this week and hopes to lock down a date and opponent for AJ’s proposed end of year blockbuster.
He told iFL TV: “AJ-Whyte is still for me, it’s a risky fight, but it’s a great fight.
“That’s up to AJ [if he wants to pass on fighting in the summer]…
“When someone says, ‘You’re not allowed to have a fight,’ it doesn’t mean you accept that. So we have to see how those discussions look.
“The key for us is to lock in the mega-fight for Anthony Joshua, so everything will step off that.
“I’m not ruling out a July fight at all, but we’ll see how those discussions go.”
Boxing bosses in Saudi have confirmed they want to pit the heavyweight division’s elite against each other in 2023.
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It could see Tyson Fury, 34, unify all four belts for the first time in heavyweight history against Oleksandr Usyk, 36, following failed talks.
And it would leave Joshua, 33, to face Wilder, 37, in a fight years in the making.
AJ himself recently admitted talks to finally meet his American rival are closer than ever.
He told The Metro: “In terms of it getting delivered [from my side], I honestly believe it is 95 per cent there.”
And Wilder watched Gervonta Davis, 28, beat Ryan Garcia, 24, in Las Vegas where also talked up the potential of fighting Joshua.
He said: “We got a lot of different options right now at this moment in time. Joshua, everybody.
“I think a lot of people is going to get that dream fight everyone wants to see.”
