Eddie Hearn has revealed he has offered Deontay Wilder the chance to fight Anthony Joshua next summer.

However, the WBC champion Wilder will have to go through Dillian Whyte to secure the lucrative contest against the undefeated Brit.

Wilder had already turned down the chance to fight Dillian Whyte on November 4, but has repeatedly told the boxing world that he wants the Joshua fight.

Whyte has a fight on the Anthony Joshua v Carlos Takam undercard this Saturday against Finnish Robert Helenius.

Hearn has stated that he wants Wilder to face one of Joshua’s former opponents and has made a further ‘substantial’ offer to the America.

AJ knocked Dillian Whyte out in the seventh round of his December 2015 bout at London’s O2 Arena. That victory, Joshua’s 15th, won him the vacant British heavyweight title.

Hearn wrote in the Daily Mail: “Dillian Whyte, a potential future opponent for both Joshua and WBC champion Deontay Wilder, has a big fight against Finnish giant Robert Helenius for the WBC Silver title.

“It’s a fight that will see the winner move to No.1 in the WBC ratings and on our side we hope it leads Whyte to a shot at Wilder in early 2018.

“We have already made Wilder a substantial career-high offer for the fight that would see the winner face Joshua in a summer blockbuster.”

Tony Bellew concurs with Eddie Hearn in his Metro column, believing that Wilder has to fight someone of Whyte’s calibre to earn his unification fight with Joshua.

AJ has had to navigate a late change in opponent for Saturday’s fight as Kubrat Pulev pulled out of the Principality Stadium fight owing to injury.

Hearn stated that Joshua’s coach Rob McCracken didn’t share Joshua’s positivity about the fight, with the Brit seemingly unbothered about the change of opponent.

“For 10 weeks they had trained for the 6ft 5in Kubrat Pulev and had replicated the sparring on his style – rangy, awkward and fairly defensive.

“Now they would face the polar opposite – a shorter, stockier, aggressive puncher that will be expected to walk down Joshua and get the champion to tire.

“McCracken switched up the sparring for the final week and they would do all they could to prepare for the change.”