By Charles Brun: Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte will likely get his chance to avenge his loss from 2015 in a rematch with Anthony Joshua this year, possibly in the first half.
A lot of boxing fans aren’t excited at seeing Joshua (24-3, 19 KOs) face the 34-year-old Whyte (28-3, 19 KOs), given how badly he looked in his last two fights against fringe contender Jermaine Franklin in November and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in April.
Whyte looked shot to pieces in both fights and deserved a defeat in his fight with Franklin, which took place in London, England, on home turf for ‘The Body Snatcher.’
Despite Dillian’s poor showings, promoter Eddie Hearn is still keen on making the Joshua vs. Whyte II rematch despite both fighters looking like they’re fading badly at this late stage of their careers. Perhaps seeing the dollar signs still available in a Joshua-Whyte 2 rematch, Hearn is eager to make the fight between them.
Hearn is probably thinking, ‘I’d better make the rematch now because both guys are can’t be trusted to beat ANYONE at this point.’
Seven years ago, 26-year-old Joshua stopped Whyte in the seventh round in a competitive fight early on. AJ nailed Whyte with a big right hand at the two-minute mark that staggered him badly, sending him to the ropes.
From there, it was target practice for Joshua, who at one point played around threatening to hit him with a bolo punch. Moments later, Joshua caught Whyte with a beautiful right uppercut that knocked him senseless, causing him to fall to the canvas in a heap of twisted flesh.
Joshua, 33, has had recent problems of his own, losing his last two contests against the tricky former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Perhaps the unkindest cut was how Usyk dominated Joshua in the rematch, resulting in his mental meltdown after the fight.
The way Joshua acted the fight was worse than the loss itself, as he looked like someone that had lost a few marbles. Initially, Joshua grabbed two of Usyk’s three belts and tossed them out of the ring in a pro-wrestling-style move.
Next, AJ grabbed the microphone and started babbling some utter nonsense that sounded like a mix is psycho garbage and street talk. After that, Joshua dropped to his knees in front of Usyk in what looked like an act of AJ seeking forgiveness for tossing his titles out of the ring. It was very, very weird.
Whyte can still punch with his left hook, but he’s so slow now, and his stamina is horrible beyond words.
Yes, Dillian can beat Joshua if he lands his left hook on the button, but can he do that before he gets overwhelmed with power shots like we saw last time he fought AJ?