Anthony Joshua next fight: Eddie Hearn makes huge Dillian Whyte claim

Joshua is preparing to take on Joseph Parker on March 31 in Cardiff as he looks to add another heavyweight belt to his set.

And while the next fight looks set to see Joshua take on Deontay Wilder, Hearn reckons a rematch with Whyte could be on the cards.

“I know that Joshua will fight Dillian Whyte again,” Hearn told Sky Sports.

“I think if you asked him and said ‘Tell me one fight in the division you want?’ He could say Dillian Whyte, because he loved it, and he feels as though he wasn’t his best, because he lost his rag a little bit.

“But he’s improved so much and he loves having a tear-up, and he knows Dillian will give him a tear-up.

“He loves the build-up. He wants people to go at him at the pressers, AJ. But they seem to lose their bark a little bit when they’re in front of him.”

Whyte faces Lucas Browne this weekend as he bids to stay on course for his own title shot.

And Hearn can see Whyte, the WBC’s No 1 ranked contender, facing Wilder before AJ – if he gets through Browne.

“I would like him to fight Wilder still,” Hearn added. 

“I think that if we [Joshua] didn’t fight Wilder next and we had our August fight, then we could do Dillian against Wilder.

“Everybody wants to see AJ verses Wilder, it’s difficult, but I would like to see Dillian get a shot at the world title before he fights AJ.” 

And Hearn believes the fight this weekend will go a long way to deciding Joshua’s next bout with the Wilder deal proving difficult to agree.

“It’s a really big fight for the division and the winner – Wilder and AJ are looking at this fight and saying – the winner is a million per cent on my radar,” said Hearn.

“All AJ talks about is fighting Dillian Whyte again, because he seems to really want to do that. Of course Lucas Browne is a former world champion who is undefeated, so if he beats Dillian, all of a sudden he’s a major player.

“This for me, is the most important fight, and the best fight outside of the championship fights. The winner is going to be No 1 in the WBC, because Dillian already is. He’s going to be top five in every governing body and you’re there.”