A few days ago, it was revealed by IBF, WBA, IBO heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) that he immediately requested a rematch with Dillian Whyte in the wake of Kubrat Pulev's withdrawal from their scheduled fight on October 28 in Cardiff.

Joshua did not get his wish - as Pulev with ultimately replaced by Carlos Takam (35-3-1, 27 KOs) on twelve days notice.

Joshua and Whyte have a long standing rivalry. Whyte defeated Joshua in 2009, when they were both amateurs. They collided in the ring in December of 2015, with Joshua getting rocked early on, but then storming forward to stop Whyte in the seventh round.

Whyte (21-1, 16 KOs) is already scheduled to appear on the undercard of Joshua's card, in a bout against Robert Helenius in a WBC world title eliminator. A victory will get Whyte a little closer to one of his goals, a showdown with WBC champion Deontay Wilder (38-0, 37 KOs).

"Dillian was the first person I asked to fight in Cardiff, because the two people who brought the best out of me entertainment-wise were Dillian and Klitschko," Joshua told Nick Parkinson.

"Klitschko, I was buzzing for a rematch because of the type of fight it was, it was great. Dillian, the same reason, it was just a buzz, everyone had a good time. Let's look back at certain careers -- if you can pick memorable nights Dillian would be one and Klitschko would be one. Out of my career there should be four or five memorable nights and we've already ticked off two."

Hearn admits that Joshua requested a rematch with Whyte, but it simply wasn't possible to make the fight happen - at least for this Saturday.

For starters, Hearn would like a much bigger promotion and a proper pre-fight build to a Joshua-Whyte rematch - because it's a very big fight for pay-per-view in the future - if both continue to win.

And, Hearn says the IBF would have stripped Joshua for not facing the highest ranked available contender - which was Takam.

"Joshua said 'what about Dillian?' And Dillian would have had it, but it's not the right time, you'd like to let them both prepare," Hearn told Sky Sports.

"We'd lose the IBF belt [if Joshua fought Whyte]. The ranking goes Takam, Christian Hammer, Jarrell Miller, Whyte. The IBF belt would have been stripped so it defeats the object."

Joshua is personally hoping that Whyte continues to win - because he wants that rematch in the future.

"It builds up our grudge match once again. You know me - I'm not shy of a little scrap. Dillian brings that to the table. Dillian brings entertaining press conferences. Dillian is waiting patiently in the pipeline," Joshua said.

"I'm learning now that the people I've been around are future opponents. Before, it was the other way around."