Anthony Joshua apparently has no plans on being a neutral observer for the upcoming all-British heavyweight title defense between WBC beltholder Tyson Fury and his mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte.
Joshua, the former unified heavyweight titlist from London, claimed in a recent interview that he is putting his support behind the Jamaican-born, London-based Whyte, who is scheduled to go up against Fury on April 23 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Of course, it is not as though Joshua and Whyte are exactly friends, given that they’ve traded their fair share of barbs over the years. In 2015, moreover, Joshua knocked Whyte out with a vicious fight uppercut in the seventh round of a non-title bout at the O2 Arena in London.
For whatever reason, Joshua made sure to make his recent show of support for Whyte a somewhat backhanded one as well.
“I’m rooting for Dillian, even though I hate him! And I wanna smash him one of these days,” Joshua said with a laugh in an interview with IFL TV. “Go on Dillian. I’m with you all the way.”
Although Whyte figures to be a substantial underdog against Fury, Joshua believes there is a path for Whyte to eke out the win.
“Dillian Whyte needs to come in and look at what Tyson Fury does and reacts to and do the complete opposite,” Joshua said. “Work the body and be conditioned to go the distance. I hope Dillian trains hard, doesn’t underestimate Tyson.”
Joshua also thinks Whyte will benefit from being potentially the more motivated fighter. Whyte has been clamoring for a title shot for years and has taken numerous shots at the WBC for failing to put him in a position to vie for the sanctioning body’s heavyweight championship.
“But because it’s his first shot, for Dillian, I think that he will be hungrier,” Joshua noted. “This ain’t like his 10th title fight, and he can have a hiccup along the way. This is his first title fight for the title belt.”
Whyte’s first title shot, however, has not been without difficulties. The heavyweight has balked at the financial terms of the bout, which favors Fury, the established draw, at an 80-20 split, per the rules of the WBC. Fury’s co-promoter, Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, won the purse bid last month to earn the rights to promote the bout, having submitted an offer of $41,025,000, a purse bid record. The 33-year-old Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs), the champion, is set to earn $29,538,000, while 34-year-old Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) will pocket $7,384,500. The remaining $4,102,500, or 10% of the purse, will go to the winner.
Whyte has long taken issue with what he feels is an unfair fiscal arrangement, despite the fact he is set to earn a career high. While he finally signed his part of the contract, Whyte made sure to take out his vindication on the promotion. Whyte was a no show at the press conference on March 1 in London to formally announce the fight, presumably because Fury’s team denied him any upside on the pay-per-view buys. According to Fury’s co- promoter Warren, Whyte has also barred the use of his image in the pre-fight buildup.
Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) is gearing up for a fight of his own, a rematch against WBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), the skilled Ukrainian southpaw who defeated Joshua last September by 12-round unanimous decision. That bout, however, has yet to be announced, and what’s more, could be in jeopardy, given the developments of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. As soon as the conflict began, Usyk, who was conducting business in London, returned promptly to his homeland and enlisted in the Ukrainian military, vowing to defend his country.