Dillian Whyte’s camp rubbish claim that rematch with Anthony Joshua would be ‘one-sided’

Dean Whyte, part of Whyte’s entourage, has insisted a rematch between the heavyweight rivals would be even closer than the entertaining first fight

Whyte (L) and Joshua first fought in 2015 (REX)

Dean Whyte, part of British heavyweight Dillian Whyte‘s entourage, has rubbished recent claims by Anthony Joshua that a rematch between the pair would result in a “one-sided” victory for the reigning WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO champion.

The two heavyweights first fought in December 2015 at the O2 Arena in southeast London with both men putting their undefeated records on the line. Joshua came out on top in a memorably topsy-turvy contest, which ended in a seventh round knockout.

Joshua would go on to win the IBF title in his next fight, a second round stoppage of Charles Martin, and eventually stopped Wladimir Klitschko to pick up the WBA and IBO titles. A measured points victory over Joseph Parker saw him add the WBO title to his collection, before two fights with Andy Ruiz Jr., which saw him lose and then regain his unified titles.

Whyte meanwhile bounced back from his maiden career defeat with a knockout win over Ivica Bacurin and the Brixton-based fighter has since won all 11 of his fights, against the likes of Parker, the dangerous Óscar Rivas and Mariusz Wach.

Whyte had been due to fight two-time world title challenger Alexander Povetkin – who Joshua stopped in seven back in 2018 – only for the fight to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

That has led to speculation over who Whyte will fight next, with Joshua last week telling The Sun that he will consider rematching his old rival after he fights WBC champion and lineal king Tyson Fury. “Once I’ve beaten Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte can come and get this work as well. It won’t be that good, it will be one-sided,” he said.

But Dean Whyte has rubbished those claims.

“I personally think it’s just the confidence of him as a two-time world champion, so he’s within his rights to say that. But there is definitely no chance of an easy night with Dillian Whyte. No chance,” Whyte told CasinoLounge.co.uk.

“Joseph Parker will tell you that, Oscar Rivas will tell you that, Derek Chisora will tell you that, Lucas Browne will definitely tell you that.

“Dillian has a champion’s mindset, work ethic and toughness. You ain’t gonna get no easy night. Joshua can try and put that out into the universe to convince himself and everyone around him, but on the night we will know – and I’m sure the world will know, it won’t be an easy nights’ work.

“Coming from similar backgrounds and making themselves stars in the UK – there’s a rivalry. But there’s also a begrudging respect having shared the ring. Those guys want to fight each more than anything. Absolutely it will happen again before they both retire.”

Intriguingly, Whyte added that the delayed fight with Povetkin could move from The Manchester Arena to the United States in order for it to happen sooner.

Whyte is due to fight Povetkin next (REX)

“He might have to go abroad because the British Boxing Board might not allow it. In America, [Donald] Trump is already saying that some states are going to be open earlier than others, so potentially it may go over there,” he said.

“I know Saudi is out the question, but America is definitely a possibility. Eddie Hearn does a lot of business out there, so they may potentially look at one of the states that have not been hit very hard by the pandemic and potentially put it there. At the front of the queue is potentially the United States.”