Dillian Whyte has been offered a massive figure to face Anthony Joshua on April 13 but Eddie Hearn remains some way off the fee required.
Whyte is in the driving seat to oppose Joshua in a Wembley Stadium rematch but is playing hardball with his promoter.
WBN understands Whyte was originally offered less than half his demand when turning the deal down flat last week.
Hearn has since upped his bid to what he described as £4 million in a social media post. But what WBN has since learned is even more than that.
‘The Bodysnatcher’ is still no closer to an agreement, though. At least a purse of £7 million would be required for contracts to be signed.
With the possibility of a mandatory being called, Whyte could potentially earn more with a purse split.
It’s now down to Hearn to come closer to where Whyte values himself in order to secure the Sky Box Office encounter.
In the form of his life, Whyte has obviously had serious thoughts about the possibility of getting a better deal elsewhere.
The Londoner recently travelled to Las Vegas for Showtime’s massive Manny Pacquiao v Adrien Broner event. Whyte was reported to be putting the feelers out on other promotional and TV deals.
It’s no secret Whyte (???? Lawrence Lustig) is not contracted to Hearn as the pair never felt the need to make things official.
JOSHUA
Meanwhile, a fight with Jarrell Miller seems to be off the table for Joshua.
Miller’s handler Dmitriy Salita has already confirmed to WBN that no talks were ever held over a New York battle.
Since then, Miller has been named alongside Manuel Charr, Trevor Bryan and Fres Oquendo as part of a four-man tournament.
The WBA mandatory semi-finals are due to take place in the spring. Charr v Oquendo and Miller v Bryan are the stipulated fights.
Both winners will square off for the chance to face the winner of Joshua v Whyte by 2020.
Joshua now has mandatories with Kubrat Pulev (IBF) and the WBA tournament to clear up. While Whyte being number one ranked with the WBO could work in the Briton’s favor.
Phil Jay is Editor of World Boxing News. Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay
