By Tim Fletcher: Unbeaten #2 WBC heavyweight contender Anthony Joshua (15-0, 15 KOs) had to struggled hard to get a 7th round knockout victory over Dillian Whyte (16-1, 13 KOs) on Saturday night to win the vacant British heavyweight title at the O2 Arena in London, England. Joshua hurt Whyte with a right hand to the head. The fight was halted at 1:27 of the 7th.
By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) has had his way since turning pro a couple of years ago in winning 14 straight contests. Joshua hasn’t had to worry about incoming fire from his opponents, because half of them were near or over 40-years-old and just terrible fighters. But tonight all of that changes, as Joshua is finally going to be in the ring with a talented and young fighter in Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) in their battle for the vacant British heavyweight title at the O2 Arena in London, England.
The winner of the Joshua-Whyte fight moves forward to get an eventual nice life-changing payday against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder or IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight belt holder Tyson Fury. The loser of the Joshua vs. Whyte fight will go home to lick their wounds and damaged pride.
By Scott Gilfoid: Well, heavyweights Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) and Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) weighed in today for their contest this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK. I must say I think Whyte was the bigger guy in terms of mass than the taller 6’6” Joshua. Whyte weighed in at a solid 247lbs and looked in great shape at 6’3”. For his part, Joshua came in a little leaner than he had in past fights in weighing in at 245lbs, which 5 pounds lighter than his last fight in September against Gary Cornish.
By Scott Gilfoid: In a sign that Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) doesn’t have the ability to see his opponents as separate fighters with different skills and talents, he says that he’s going to treat his next opponent Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) just like he’s done with his previous 14 opponents and try to KO him in 3 rounds or less like he did against those 14 opponents.
This means that Joshua is going to most certainly bum rush the hard hitting Whyte and score a quick knockout so that he fits in with the gawd awful opposition that he’s faced in his first 14 fights. I can’t say that it’s the smartest thing for Joshua to do if he does try and steamroll Joshua, because he’s the wrong approach to go after a puncher like him.
“I believe that he is just another opponent. When I say three rounds, that’s because I’m going to treat him like my 14 [previous] opponents,” Joshua said to skysports.com. “The reason I say three rounds is because that’s what I’m used to. I’ve said ‘this is going to go six rounds or this is going to go eight rounds’ but it’s gone two, three rounds.”
By Scott Gilfoid: British heavyweight Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) still believes that it’ll be a major achievement if unbeaten Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KO) can take him past the 3rd round this Saturday night in their fight in London, England.
Joshua’s previous 14 fights at the pro level has him thinking that few fighters in the sport can go past three rounds with him. What’s interesting here is that Joshua wasn’t noted to be a knockout puncher when facing the best in the amateur ranks, but that all changed after he turned pro and started being matched against weak opposition that weren’t at the same level as the guys that Joshua had been facing as amateur.
By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn is banking on his fighter #2 WBC heavyweight contender Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) beating his former conqueror Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) in their fight this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
Hearn has practically already crowned the 26-year-old Joshua as the next undisputed heavyweight champion with all the praise that he’s been steadily pouring over his head by the bucketful.
The gushing that Hearn has done about Joshua’s talent seems almost embarrassing at times because it seems like Hearn is failing to see that Joshua was arguably beaten four times in the London Olympics three years ago in 2012 in winning a controversial gold medal.
By Scott Gilfoid: 2nd tier heavyweight Dereck Chisora (23-5, 15 KOs) has been added to this Saturday night’s Sky Box Office card headlined by the heavyweight clash between unbeaten fighters Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) and Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
Chisora reportedly wants to fight the winner of the Joshua-Whyte fight, which is obviously why he’s been added to the card. Chisora isn’t one of Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn’s fighters. Chisora recently inked with Sauerland Events, a company that frequently does business with Hearn’s company. However, having the winner of the Joshua-Whyte fight face Chisora is kind of a big step down in talent in my view.
I’m just saying. I’d like to see the winner of the Joshua vs. Whyte fight go upwards with their career rather than downwards to fight Chisora, because I see this guy as just a step above the likes of Gary Cornish and Brian Minto.
By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) thinks that his opponent Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) is worried about gassing out in their fight this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Joshua, 6’6”, 250lbs, has packed on a lot of unnecessary muscle weight since he turned pro in 2013, and he’s not been matched against quality opposition about his promoter Eddie Hearn.
Instead of Hearn doing the smart thing by slowly putting Joshua, a 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medal winner, against better fighters that could test his stamina, Hearn has kept Joshua fighting weak 3rd fighters that he’s easily knocked out. The results have seen Joshua’s fights end early in 3 rounds or less.
Now all finally after two years, Joshua is fighting his first quality opponent in the hard hitting Dillian Whyte, and there is a real danger that Joshua will be forced to take his body building physique to the later rounds.
By Scott Gilfoid: With the dreadful fodder opposition that Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) has faced since turned pro in 2013, he’s never gone past the 3rd round during his short two-year career. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has made sure that Joshua has been put in with guys that weren’t too dangerous, and because of that he’s been able to score 14 straight knockouts.
This Saturday night, Joshua will be stepping it up for the first time in his career in facing Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Joshua feels that he’s going to be able to KO Whyte in just three rounds. I hope for Joshua’s sake that he has a good plan-B to fall back on if case Whyte doesn’t crumble in 3 rounds like he’s hoping for.
If Joshua is able to KO Whyte in the 3rd, it would be the third fighter that has made it to the third round against him. Joshua has previously stopped Jason Gavern and Konstantin Airich in the 3rd round. The rest of the opponents that Joshua has faced have caved in before the 3rd round.
By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight talent Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) is battling Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
The two British fighters have met with each other numerous times in the past month to help build up their fight on December 12th on Sky Box Office. One thing that Whyte has noticed in his meetings with the 26-year-old Joshua is that he gets nervous when he’s around him. Whyte isn’t sure why Joshua gets so antsy.
My view is it could be Joshua remembers being beaten by Whyte from their fight in the amateurs, and he could be thinking about what another loss to him would do to his young career. With the way that Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been bragging about him left and right to the media, it would be tremendous blow to Joshua’s career if Whyte brings him back down to earthy by beating him on Saturday.