ANTHONY JOSHUA will not fight Tyson Fury if he ignores WBC mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte, warns Eddie Hearn.
Whyte is currently in line to take on Fury but could surrender his chance to Alexander Povetkin if he loses the ‘Diamond’ belt in the finale fight camp next Saturday.
Fury, 32, first needs to fulfil contractual obligations to scrap Deontay Wilder for a third time.
And the WBC confirmed the winner must face the mandatory or face giving up the belt – further delaying an undisputed scrap with AJ.
Hearn has further put the pressure on the Gypsy King to win both fights claiming Joshua only wants to box the fighter who holds the WBC belt.
Speaking to iFL TV, he said: “It’s [WBC Diamond] is on the line for the first time. It’s still for the interim world heavyweight title, but also the Diamond belt.
“It’s the most important heavyweight fight this year by a mile.
“Alexander Povetkin can bowl in and become WBC mandatory just by winning this fight. Dillian Whyte has waited 1000 days.
“The winner of Fury against Wilder has to fight Dillian Whyte or Povetkin or vacate the belt.
“If they [Fury and Wilder] fight in December, we’ve always known that February is unlikely.
“We want to do that because I want to do the undisputed.
“By the way, if Tyson Fury doesn’t want to fight Dillian Whyte, I’ve already talked to AJ.
“AJ wants the WBC world title. He wants to be the WBC world champion. So whoever has the WBC world title, they’ll be fighting AJ.
“So if Fury wants to vacate and Dillian Whyte fights #1 or #2 for the title, he can fight AJ for the undisputed.”
Whyte has been the WBC’s No1 ranked challenger since 2017, but only last year earned his spot as mandatory after beating Oscar Rivas.
However, his status was revoked after an ‘adverse finding’ was found in his pre-fight drug test, and the WBC instead handed Fury a shot at Wilder’s belt.
Whyte was eventually cleared of any doping violations by United Kingdom Anti-Doping, but could only watch as the Gypsy King won the belt.
He had been promised a shot at the title by February next year, but Fury’s promoter Bob Arum revealed the Wilder trilogy could carry over to that date.
