Dillian Whyte feels former foe Anthony Joshua could brush Oleksandr Usyk aside if he asserts himself in the early exchanges of their WBA Super, WBO and IBF heavyweight title clash on Saturday.
Unified champion Joshua appears to be facing his most gifted opponent to date when he meets the unbeaten Ukrainian at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in three days’ time.
But WBC Interim belt holder Whyte, who was stopped by Joshua in a grudge match back in December 2015, believes his old rival could wield too much firepower at the weekend.
“Joshua will stop him in the first five, six or seven rounds,” Whyte told BBC 5 Live. “Usyk will start fast, and Joshua will be a bit cagey because he’s a southpaw and he’s lighter.
“Joshua also lacks confidence sometimes in fights where he can get caught up [with thinking] ‘He’s a good boxer’. Hopefully, he goes back to his old self and starts pressing Usyk and being the bigger, stronger guy and starts backing him up and hitting him with stuff.
“I think he can get the job done early. Usyk is a good southpaw, but he’s an aggressive southpaw as well. He likes to press the fight, but Joshua has height and reach and power. If Joshua wants to set the pace, he can get an early knockout. But if he wants to prove who’s the better boxer, I think he’ll struggle.”