By Jake Tiernan: British fans are going to be getting a treat with former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua taking on his old nemesis Dillian Whyte in a 50-50 business-level fight in their rematch next month on DAZN PPV on August 12th at the O2 Arena in London The pay-per-view price for UK & Ireland is £26.99.
The fight will unlikely be PPV in the U.S., as Americans won’t buy it in high numbers.
This is promoter Eddie Hearn’s baby, as he’s been pushing for the Joshua-Whyte II rematch for years, and he’s fine with Whyte having lost two out of his last four fights and AJ losing two out of his last three bouts.
Joshua knocked out Whyte in seven rounds eight years ago in 2015, and a lot has changed since. Both are older, fading heavyweights, no longer the fighters they once were, but still making big money. The only reason to have a rematch is to bring in the dough.
AJ needed a tune-up to get him ready for his fight against Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia, and the journeyman Whyte was useful for that purpose.”
Joshua taking a needless risk
“It’s a very high-risk, high rewards fight for Anthony Joshua. It’s a 50-50 fight between the two men,” said Gareth A. Davies to iFL TV about today’s announced rematch between Anthony Joshua & Dillian Whyte.
“They’re both at later stages in their career. When did they fight last in 2016, wasn’t it? It was 2015, and that’s a long time ago in their careers, put it that way.”
Could Joshua lose this fight to Whyte? To be sure, stranger things have happened, and it wouldn’t be a total shock if Joshua folded like a cheap suit under the firepower of Dillian.
Yeah, Whyte is 100% shot to bits at this point in his career, but he can still punch, and if you stand in front of him, he’s going to show that he’s still lethal. That’s why this was a stupid idea for Hearn to use Whyte as Joshua’s warm-up opponent.
Hearn might think he’s being smart using Whyte to make a quick buck, but it cost Joshua the $60 million he’s expected to get for the Deontay Wilder fight in Saudi Arabia.
“They’ve had a lot of water pass under the bridge since. A lot has happened,” said Gareth. “I’m glad they’re [finally] having it. I think it’s a very big fight. People may not agree with me, but I think it’s a very big fight.
“It will capture the public imagination. You won’t be able to get a ticket for the love of money. It’ll sell out so easily, in my view.
“I think it could have been a small stadium, but I think it’ll do good numbers online as well, and I’m looking forward to an explosive press conference.”
No belts on the line, just money
“They’re both a bit more mature about each other at the moment, but I think we’re seeing them in West London on Monday. I’m looking forward to the ignition of that bad blood again,” said Gareth.
“Yeah, look, the thing is the prism, the echo chamber that social media is at the moment. There’s a lot of negativity there, anyway. They’re both mainstream stars in sports,” said Gareth, reacting to being told that boxing fans are criticizing the Joshua vs. Whyte fight like mad on social media.
“Dillian Whyte has made himself a cult figure. Yeah, they both didn’t perform brilliantly against Jermaine Franklin because they’ve got that mutual opponent respectively in their last fights. Neither of them looked amazing against him, but this is the championship of each other.
“There are no belts on the line. It’s bragging rights, North and South London. Two guys that never liked each other. Dillian, you know, always wanted to get under the skin of Anthony Joshua and did a great job of it.
“They had a very exciting seven-round fight. Joshua was rocked really for the first time in his career in that Dillian Whyte fight at the same venue, of course, whatever it was seven years ago. I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be a great build-up, a great night. We don’t have to wait too long, that’s what’s great.
“Six weeks away, five and a half six weeks away. They’re both in camp and going to want to win this so badly, and it could be ‘ding-dong, slobber knocker.’ They can both get knocked down, they can both get up. It could be a battle to the death, if you like, for Joshua,” said Gareth.
