DILLIAN WHYTE says he wants a one-fight deal to face Anthony Joshua and is not interested in a rematch clause.
The British heavyweight told Talksport that the current contract he has received from Matchroom Boxing to face his rival still needs changes in his opinion.
On Friday any hope of a deal appeared to be over when Whyte said in an interview with the same media outlet that, “The fight’s just collapsed, there’s been no communication on the fight.”
As of today, their potential rematch has been brought back to life, but Whyte wants a more straightforward proposition than the one on offer.
“I just want a simple contract, a simple fight, winner take all, winner move on and have another big fight in Saudi Arabia,” Whyte said.
“This fight for me is about the opportunities it’s not about the money, that’s why I’m taking the fight for the money they offered me. Now they’re trying to put rematch clauses in there which ties me up for up to a year which will mess everything up. I’m not interested in that. I just want a straightforward fight. Winner moves on. That’s it.”
Whyte elaborated more on what he is unhappy with.
“I’m not happy with the rematch clause for one. There’s also other things in there, smaller print things that would, tie me in that if I fight AJ and beat him, I can’t just move on and go and fight in the big fights. I’ve got to wait for him and there’s things that they want like, they want the ability to change the date and the venue. No. Let’s just have the fight.”
Eight years ago, Joshua beat Whyte at the O2 Arena in London by seventh round stoppage in what was a highly charged contest between the two.
Joshua has gone on to win three of the four heavyweight belts while Whyte lost in his sole challenge for world honours when he fought Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium last year. Joshua is using his next fight, against Whyte or whoever that may be, to stay busy before taking on the savage punching Deontay Wilder in the Middle East in December.
The reputation of Joshua dipped following his back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk and even more so in his win against Jermaine Franklin in April. The points win was Joshua’s first fight with new trainer Derrick James in his corner.
Whyte insists he is not paying any attention to opinions and is concentrating on fighting Joshua at his very best.
“You never know if someone is going to turn up on the day,” said Whyte who is training in Florida.
“I might go in there and walk through him in a round, I might go in there and we have a hard 12-round fight. I might go in and it’s an up and down fight, I put him down, he put me down. I just try and focus and prepare for the best version there is.”
The straight-talking Whyte says if the rematch happens he plans to put Joshua under extreme pressure and wants to end matters inside the distance.
“I’m gonna press the fight and they know that as well because the fact I’ve gone back and accepted everything they wanted without no push back or nothing they’re thinking okay he’s a bit too up for this one! I want to go to war. I want to fight the best people in my time and that’s it. I want to go in there, have a good slugfest with him and knock him out.”