EDDIE HEARN urged Tyson Fury to face Dillian Whyte in December if Deontay Wilder “disappears”.
Fury, 31, dominated Wilder, 34, in February to clinch the WBC title and the pair are already signed to an immediate rematch.
But Whyte, 32, has been told he will face the winner should he beat Alexander Povetkin, 40.
Wilder has remained radio silent since his first career defeat, leading to fears he is questioning facing Fury off the back of his humbling loss this year.
And with Fury adamant he will fight before the year is out, Hearn wants the world champion to face mandatory challenger Whyte in a “monstrous” heavyweight headliner.
He told Sky Sports: “If Deontay Wilder does go missing and Dillian Whyte wins the WBC should just order that fight immediately.
“I heard people talking about, ‘Oh, Fury will definitely fight this year, Wilder or not’.
“If he’s going to fight and Wilder’s not around, why not fight your mandatory?
“Tyson Fury against Dillian Whyte is a monstrous fight, you’re talking about a couple million pay-per-view buys it generates a huge amount of interest and money so why wouldn’t you take that fight?
“I don’t believe Tyson Fury is running scared of Dillian Whyte, I think he thinks he’ll beat him.
“I think that’s a great option for him if Wilder disappears. My hear tells me he won’t disappear, I might be his only shot at getting his belt back.”
Despite Whyte’s mandatory status, Fury’s UK promoter Frank Warren warned the Gypsy King is only interested in facing Anthony Joshua.
The heavyweight champions have verbally agreed to a two-fight deal in 2021.
And Warren revealed Fury could even vacate the belt to get the super-fight with Joshua over the line.
But Hearn – who promotes AJ and Whyte – insisted the unified champion wants to win all four titles and reigning as undisputed king.
Meaning if Fury opts against facing his mandatory challenger, Joshua could rematch Whyte for the vacant WBC crown.
Hearn told iFL TV,: “People said from Fury’s team, ‘We are not fighting Dillian Whyte.
“So I said, ‘If you don’t fight Dillian Whyte, you’re going to be stripped of your world title.’
“And then I said, by the way, Anthony Joshua wants to win the WBC world title because he wants to win all the belts. He wants to be undisputed.’
“So if Tyson Fury vacates the belt, then AJ can’t win the WBC belt. So, therefore, he’ll fight Dillian Whyte for the WBC belt.”
