Joshua Vows to Beat Dillian Whyte Again
Within the heavyweight division, not only are there a number of good potential match-ups, there are already some legitimate built-in rivalries. One of the longer standing feuds has raged between unified heavyweight champion Anthony “AJ” Joshua (23-1, 21 KO’s) and Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte (27-1, 18 KO’s).
Their mutual animosity dates back to a 2009 amateur bout that saw Whyte victorious. Later, in a 2015 professional prizefight, Joshua was able to claim a bit of revenge by way of a seventh round knockout win. However, to claim that victory, AJ had to survive a very scary moment in the second period. Now, Joshua has told the Sun that Dillian Whyte can get touched up again, but only after he tangles with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO’s) first.
A FEW HURDLES TO HOP
No matter how badly Whyte would like to mix it up though, there are at least three fights that must take place fist. First Joshua must get past his own IBF mandatory challenger in the form of Kubrat “The Cobra” Pulev (28-1, 14 KO’s). Also, the aforementioned Tyson Fury must successfully defeat Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO’a) for a second consecutive time. Then, Joshua would take on Fury to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn expressed his personal desire to see Wilder accept step-aside money to allow the Fury v Joshua unification match to take place. However, there has been zero indication that Team Wilder is even slightly entertaining the notion of postponing the contractual rematch agreement. At the same time, Kubrat Pulev is also proving to be inflexible on the matter.
LINE ‘EM UP!
Assuming that both Fury and Joshua win, and then AJ defeats the Gypsy King, Anthony Joshua insists that he will have no problem locking horns with Whyte again. Despite suffering his first professional loss to Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz Jr (33-2, 22 KO’s), Joshua firmly maintains that he is now a much better competitor than when he last fought Whyte.
Armed with his additional professional experience, AJ can’t see Dillian Whyte posing him much, if any, trouble at all in the squared-circle.
“I know he’s been chasing a world title shot. I offered him a world title shot last year in April, he refused it. Maybe he wants his hand on the WBC, but if me and Tyson Fury fight, then I know he didn’t want to fight me last year, but he’ll definitely have to fight me this time, if he wants his hands on the WBC belt. Once I’ve beaten Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte can come and get this work as well. It won’t be that good, it will be one-sided.”
Unfortunately, before we can get to any of these bouts, or any fights whatsoever, we first have to run COVID-19 out of town. And sadly, at the moment, there is no solid indication for when that will happen. So, just like Dillian Whyte, we are all going to have to patiently wait for production to get back in motion.
By: Bakari Simpson
