Dillian Whyte has branded talk of a rematch with Anthony Joshua this year a ‘waste of time.’
‘The Bodysnatcher’ has long claimed to be avoided in the heavyweight division. He returned in late 2022 with a win over Jermaine Franklin after suffering defeat in his first world title challenge at the hands of Tyson Fury.
His former opponent, Joshua, is also in comeback mode. Having lost twice to the current champion, Oleksandr Usyk, ‘AJ’ is set to return to the ring with a new trainer to mount a fresh world title challenge. First up is to be Franklin, with an announcement expected this week.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has been open about getting through this first fight and then making Joshua-Whyte 2 for the summer. Joshua won their first fight by 7th round KO in 2015.
Whyte believes that fight is the right one to make for many reasons – especially since he’s just beat the man Joshua’s about to fight – but claims nobody has approached him with anything worthwhile. He expressed his frustrations to SportsMail.
“Obviously it’s a big fight for Britain and for DAZN, DAZN need big fights and big content. I don’t know why they’re not pushing for it. Eddie has talked a lot about the fight, but they couldn’t commit to actually making it. Waste of time talking about it! We’ve had no offer for that fight or serious talks. It’s very frustrating.
“I win and then there’s no conversation about the AJ fight or nothing. So obviously I’m not gonna sit around and wait and be used as a scapegoat like they did to me a couple years ago.”
The response from those involved may be that Joshua’s first fight of the year takes priority before entering into the next set of negotiations for a summer stadium fight.
Whyte, however, feels the situation is reminiscent of 2019, when he was in talks to step in and face ‘AJ’ after his US opponent, Jarrell Miller, tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. The fighter from Brixton believes he was used as a ‘scapegoat’ in that situation.
With no opponent announced and everybody else on the scene seemingly getting themselves best placed for a title shot once Fury and Usyk deal with the undisputed matter, Whyte wants anything but a spell on the sidelines.