Dillian Whyte says he wants to fight Anthony Joshua next.
The 33-year-old made the declaration yesterday on Instagram after his trainer Xavier Miller said they wanted to face the winner of the third fight between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former ruler Deontay Wilder.
“No I want AJ now next” was Whyte’s response.
Whyte, who holds the WBC Interim title, has been seeking a world title opportunity for far too long now and for a variety of reasons his career remains without having fought for one. This despite an impressive record of wins over rivals such as Dereck Chisora, Joseph Parker, Oscar Rivas and Alexander Povetkin.
Whyte’s admission may put the cat among the pigeons as he hopes to land a rematch with Joshua after the pair clashed in December 2015. Joshua successfully defended his Commonwealth title that night and won the vacant British strap after the pair settled their differences following a spicy build-up.
Joshua has been ordered by the World Boxing Organisation to defend his WBO title against their number one contender Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn believes the fight could take place in August, but could Joshua vacate the WBO strap and seek a voluntary defence of either his IBF or WBA championships against Whyte instead? One thing is for certain, Joshua will be back in the ring soon following the collapse of the much hyped undisputed showdown between himself and Tyson Fury.
Main image: Mark Robinson