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Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter is eager to face Dillian Whyte, but does not believe the Brit would face him.
Hunter is coming off a devastating fourth round knockout win over Mike Wilson earlier this month in New York.
‘The Bounty’, who turned down an IBF final eliminator with Filip Hrgovic prior to his victory, posted on his social media on Wednesday that he would be looking to return to the ring in October and is eyeing a clash with Whyte, who is also set to fight in October, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
Names such as Chris Arreola, Charles Martin and Andy Ruiz Jr have all been mentioned as potential opponents for Whyte with no mention of Hunter and the 33-year-old believes that his rival doesn’t want to face him.
“They’ll never fight me,” Hunter told Pro Boxing Fans.
“They wanted me to fight [Filip] Hrgovic, but we know that Eddie Hearn is not really fully promoting Hrgovic, so that was an easy one for him to try to make for the cheapest price, but when it comes to his fighters I’ll be the last person to fight his fighters.
“I could have fought them at any point. So I just think that they’re going to stay away from me and Dillian’s team will stay away and I just don’t think that they want the smoke.
“They keep coming around the United States trying to get opponents. I think that the fans are going to keep pressing them for me to fight him.
“I think he’s got to be very careful on his steps here in America. I think that he can’t just come to America thinking that he can fight any old body without my name being mentioned.
“My fans love Dillian Whyte. They think that’s a great fight for me. I think that’s a great fight for me, but Dillian has got his shades on, his hater blockers on, he doesn’t want no part of it. I respect it. I can’t do nothing but respect it.”
Whyte was on the brink of a world title shot last summer, but saw his hopes vanish in a flash after being stopped by Alexander Povetkin at Fight Camp last August.
The 33-year-old gained revenge over the Russian with a fourth round stoppage victory in March to regain his WBC interim heavyweight title and put him once again in line for a long-awaited world title shot.
However, ‘The Bounty’ is not convinced that he deserves his opportunity.
“He hasn’t fought any and everybody,” Hunter added.
“It’s not like he’s defended his position. They put him in there with an eliminator and he lost. I’ve never seen how you get a rematch off an eliminator. So to me I don’t think that he really deserves it when we talk about it like that.”