ANTHONY JOSHUA is risking a £60million payday against Deontay Wilder by first returning to settle a score with Dillian Whyte.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has a deal in place for Joshua to face Wilder in Saudi Arabia, which is set for the end of the year.
And he previously revealed his purse could be as much as £60m for the Middle East mega-fight.
But AJ must first beat Whyte after the pair announced they will rematch on August 12 at the O2 Arena.
Hearn told talkSPORT: “This one is wild because AJ has got the Wilder fight locked in for December.
“We had meetings last week with the Saudis. Obviously, that’s one of the biggest fights in boxing, and he wanted to fight in the interim.
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"You know, he’s been working with Derrick James, he wanted to have that fight and he was insistent it was Dillian Whyte.
"I wasn’t over the moon because I know it’s dangerous. It’s a fight that is built off emotion, they don’t like each other.
"You saw what happened last time at the O2, it’s going to be an absolute firefight on August 12. That’s why it’s so dangerous.
"You’ve got that Deontay Wilder fight in December, he could’ve just waited and had an easy, gimme fight at the O2 – but he’s decided to roll the dice."
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Joshua's history with Whyte, 35, dates back to their amateur days when he was beaten in a thriller.
But AJ got revenge in 2015 when the pair rematched in the professional ranks with a seventh-round stoppage.
The two have continued to feud ever since and have finally got a deal over the line to decide their trilogy once and for all.
But a defeat for Joshua, 33, would KO his blockbuster bout with Wilder, 37.
Hearn said: "I don’t know how the Whyte fight goes, but we’ve been told categorically that the deal on the table is not the deal if he loses to Dillian Whyte.
"They didn’t want him to fight Dillian Whyte. It was almost like, ‘Please, don’t fight Dillian Whyte.
"You don’t need to. We’ve got this fight in December. But AJ was like, ‘No. I want to fight.’
"If he wins on August 12, he’ll go into the Deontay Wilder fight with loads of momentum and again it’s just adding to that incredible CV.
“I think he should be praised for the fact he wants to give you a real fight instead of just a tick-over fight until he fights Deontay Wilder – this is very dangerous."
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