DILLIAN WHYTE still carries hope that a rematch with Anthony Joshua will take place.
The 36-year-old heavyweight has faced ‘AJ’ twice in his career, once in the amateurs which Whyte won and the other in the pros 10 years ago where Joshua stopped his arch-rival in the seventh round.
Since then Joshua has gone on to become a two-time heavyweight champion, unified in the process, while Whyte, 31-3 (21 KOs), has challenged for a world title once and unsuccessfully against Tyson Fury in 2022.
Joshua and Whyte were set to renew their rivalry on August 12, 2023 but the fight was scrapped after a random VADA anti-doping test returned by Whyte produced an adverse finding. Whyte, however, was cleared in March 2024 after it was confirmed the positive result was caused by a contaminated supplement.
He returned to the ring the same month forcing Christian Hammer to retire in the seventh round of their contest. And last month the same result played out when Whyte got his hands on Ebeneezer Tetteh in Gibraltar.
The rise of Riyadh Season has seen the heavyweight division transform itself into the hottest weight class in the sport but Whyte has been on the outside looking in. Turki Alalshikh had hoped to pair Joshua, 28-4 (25 KOs), with Tyson Fury in 2025 but the latter’s recent retirement has forced other options to be explored. Two of which could be Deontay Wilder and Martin Bakole.
Whyte, however, believes another chapter of his rivalry with Joshua can still go ahead and says he’d love nothing more than to end Joshua’s career.
“They talk about me as an option, but they haven’t said anything to me, so it’s just negotiation tactics from them. But I’m up for the fight and I’m ready to fight again,” Whyte told Sky Sports.
“If he wants to fight, then all they’ve got to do is call me. I’m always up for fighting AJ. No problem for me. However, personally, I think he’s finished.
“Me and him will always be a good fight. We just have that chemistry. I don’t want to lose to him, he doesn’t want to lose to me, and we want to prove each other wrong. We want to knock each other out so it will always be a good fight.
“Eddie [Hearn] has publicly stated Joshua could fight me next, but whether he will or not I don’t know whether he or his people want it, then we wait to see. I would love to retire him.”
