VITALI KLITSCHKO advised Anthony Joshua to not'show weakness' by allowing Oleksandr Usyk, the fighter of Tyson Fury, to step in.
Joshua will be rematched immediately following his September defeat to Usyk, which Klitschko viewed from London ringside.
Vitali Klitschko advised Anthony Joshua to not'show weakness' or step aside
However, the Ukrainians were being supported by the Middle East. They received mega-money and talks from them to fight Fury for all the belts.
This would result in Joshua and Fury's WBC mandatory opponent Whyte being paid a fee to watch the historic unification.
Joshua was advised by Klitschko, a 50-year-old Klitschko - who defended brother Wladimir against defeats to AJ & the Gypsy King – not to make any step-aside deals.
Sky News was informed by him that he had made the decision. He said: "But my personal opinion?"
"If Joshua sidessteps in this moment when the boxing audience wants to see Joshua against Usyk, it would be weakness.
"Joshua! Don't do that please. We fight for our audience as well as ourselves as fighters.
Free Bets: Get more than PS2,000 in NEW CUSTOMER DEALS"The audience decides. The audience must decide if they want to fight.
"If Joshua steps aside, I'm not sure that Joshua would have such a huge interest in the future."
Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Klitschko, admitted that they would listen to step-aside requests despite Klitschko's plea.
They would have required a guarantee that they would fight the winner between Usyk or Fury, as well as a multimillion-pound fee.
ESPN reports that there was a step-aside agreement of principle' between AJ and Whyte until 'parties tried to renegotiate in the eleventh hour'.
Fury responded with a tweet: "It's greed."
According to some reports, Fury (33) was given PS115million in order to fight Usyk (35) in Saudi Arabia in an historic, first-ever four belt heavyweight unification.
The funds from the package would have gone directly to Joshua, 32. His figure was reported as PS15m. Whyte, 33 is believed to be in line for PS5m.
According to reports, the two British heavyweights agreed to pay a fee for their resignation.
However, the deal was dissolved after a change of goalposts in the final minute.
This means Fury will now face Whyte, with purse bids to defend the title due to take place Friday evening.
Fury's promotional team, which includes Frank Warren and Bob Arum, will auction off Eddie Hearn to win the right for hosting the grudge match.
Joshua, who was dethroned from the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts, is now all but confirmed to fight Usyk.
