Anthony Joshua set for rematch against Dillian Whyte scheduled for August 12.
Anthony Joshua, a British professional boxer of Nigerian heritage, has made Dillian Whyte an official offer for a match set for August 12.
Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, Joshua's promoter, admits that the talks will be challenging.
When both were rising stars in 2015, the domestic rivals engaged in a fight for the British heavyweight championship.
Joshua was victorious by knockout in the seventh round, moving Whyte back down a division and propelling Joshua to international prominence.
Whyte believes the score is even after defeating Joshua in the amateurs and has been urging a rematch for some time.
He has made his way up the ranks since that defeat and mounted an ultimately unsuccessful challenge for a world title against Tyson Fury.
Having lost his unified titles to Oleksandr Usyk over the course of two fights, Joshua is also in rebuilding mode.
He's engaged in lengthy discussions to take on Deontay Wilder in December and is eager to engage in a midsummer fight for further training with Derrick James, his new trainer.
Hearn told BBC Sport that Whyte had received the formal offer and negotiations are in process.
Eddie Hearn on Joshua vs Whyte
He said, “Our plan, which we’ve stressed, is for AJ to box on August 12 and again in December against Deontay. Dillian has a lot of value in the rematch.
"This is not an opponent for Joshua, but a big fight between two world-class heavyweights and huge British names.
"The negotiations will be difficult but both AJ and Whyte want the fight.”
After that, the promoter stated that they were awaiting final offers and contracts for Joshua's bout against Wilder, which will likely take place in December if he prevails against Whyte.
Whyte had vented his irritation at the talks, claiming that he ought to have faced 'AJ' in April rather than Jermaine Franklin, whom he defeated in November.
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