Frank Warren expects Anthony Joshua to fight someone who 'at ...
Promoter Frank Warren believes Anthony Joshua will take the 'easiest option' as a replacement opponent for Dillian Whyte.
Joshua and Whyte were expected to fight on Saturday night, but 'The Bodysnatcher' returned an 'adverse finding' from his VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) testing and the bout was cancelled.
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Whyte has claimed he is 'completely innocent' and did not take the reported substance.
And now, Warren has had his say, as he told talkSPORT: "It's a great shame, but the best way to deal with this if for a hearing to be convened as soon as possible...
"And if what [Whyte] says is true, he'll be exonerated and if it isn't then that will be the end of him for a long time.
"The main problem with this kind of issue is how it's dealt with and time it takes to deal with it, they're dragging on and on and at the end of the day it drags the sport down and at times it looks like there's no control over it.
"So, I think the British Boxing Board of Control have got to stand firm and call for this hearing quickly."
In terms of who Joshua might fight instead, there are a number of heavyweights on the undercard who could act as replacement opponents, such as Derek Chisora, Gerald Washington, Filip Hrgovic and Demsey McKean.
But, Warren believes Joshua will take the path of least resistance, so as to set up a clash with Deontay Wilder early next year in Saudi Arabia, as he said: "They'll go for the easiest one they can because they don't want to jeopardise the payday they're gonna get in Saudi Arabia...
"This is what this has all been about and why the heavyweight division has been held up for nearly a year now.
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"I don't think him and Derek Chisora is going to set the world on fire. I got enough criticism for Chisora fighting Tyson when he was ranked and he was soundly beaten by Tyson.
"There's a few other guys there, but he'll go for the easiest option if he goes ahead and fights."
Warren continued: "[Joshua] had a warm up fight [with Jermaine Franklin] after his losses [against Oleksandr Usyk] and now he should be stepping up a bit.
"So, you would expect him to be in the ring with somebody who at least has a pulse."
