Dillian Whyte has reacted to Anthony Joshua’s knockout win over Francis Ngannou at the weekend, labelling the Cameroonian as a ‘Southern Area’ level opponent.
‘AJ’ stopped the former UFC superstar inside two rounds with a brutal knockout that left the underdog unconscious on the canvas, just five months after the latter gave Tyson Fury a run for his money in a bout he lost by split-decision.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Dillian Whyte appeared more underwhelmed by Ngannou than impressed by his fierce rival, Joshua.
“I think that [Fury] fight gave him false confidence to the point where, when he was getting hammered with big punches, he stayed in the pocket and he wasn’t trying to move his head or hold or anything.
“He went down, stood up in the same place. Didn’t move his head, went down, stood up in the same place and basically waited for the third right hand.
“AJ is a puncher and you don’t just stand up in front of someone like AJ with your hands basically down and then switching stances mid-fight against a right-handed puncher. Why did he go southpaw? It didn’t make any sense.
“I just knew that AJ’s experience and his power would be too much. I thought Francis would be a little bit better, to be honest, but Francis… he’s doing boxing, but it’s not recognised boxing training so he hasn’t covered the basics.
“You are talking about a world champion fighting someone at ‘Southern Area’ level. If that’s ‘Southern Area’ level? Because some of the heavyweights at ‘Southern Area’ would beat him [Ngannou].”
Whyte has been inactive since his positive drugs test in the build-up to a proposed rematch with Joshua back in August. However, ‘The Body Snatcher’ returns to the ring on Sunday, fighting Christian Hammer in Ireland.
