Dillian Whyte puts heat on Anthony Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn with brutal 11th round KO of Dereck Chisora
Dillian Whyte turned the heat on heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua after a chilling left hook finish in the 11th round against Dereck Chisora on Saturday night.
Whyte delivered a statement finish in a second all-action fight with Chisora, and then called out rival Joshua for a rematch at Wembley Stadium in April next year, urging the promoter Eddie Hearn to sign up to the fight. Whyte even roused the crowd to boo Joshua, who, like the British public, are restless for the champion to be matched with the best.
“I can’t sit around and wait for Joshua,” said Whyte. “My career needs to progress. Time’s ticking. We were supposed to hear about fighting Joshua directly after Wilder-Fury, and there’s nothing. The guy’s making a lot of money – he’s got four belts, I don’t think he really cares. It’s about what he’s doing. He’s the man at the moment. I’m sure Eddie doesn’t want the golden egg to get cracked.”
Whyte did rattle Joshua with his comments, and the latter now finds himself in a different, arguably difficult place as the year turns. From Olympic gold medallist in 2012 to going 22 fights undefeated and claiming three of the world title belts, Joshua has barely put a fist or foot wrong, yet there is a growing restlessness to see him face World Boxing Council champion Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Whyte sooner, not later.
So restless, in fact, that Joshua was shouted down – a first – by the packed audience at the O2 Arena, when he climbed into the ring apron to respond to Whyte and tell his rival and the British public that he wanted the best in order: Wilder, Tyson Fury and then Whyte.
“I’m quite respectful but if Dillian steps in the ring with me you better believe me, none of these heavyweights are on my level,” he said. “I keep my lid on because I don’t want to explode on none of them.”
Hearn confirmed that he would “need an answer” on a possible Joshua-Wilder fight “by the middle to end” of January if the undisputed unification of the belts is to take place at Wembley in April.
“We haven’t got very long to sign Joshua’s next fight,” explained Hearn, saying it was 80 per cent likely to be at Wembley. “The priority is that he wants to fight Wilder, but his team are not showing a lot of willingness. I don’t believe that will happen. For April 13, we need it on sale at the end of January by the latest.
“Joshua wants the undisputed fight with Wilder but he does also want to fight Dillian Whyte. There’s a very, very good chance that (Dillian) will be next. Dillian deserves a world title shot and him and AJ is a brilliant fight.”
If fairness were to prevail, Whyte deserves the Joshua fight as WBO No 1 challenger. He is already WBC No 1 challenger to Wilder’s crown, too.
In the United States, Wilder seemed to affirm that he will be pursuing a rematch with Fury, after their dramatic, controversial draw three weeks ago in Los Angeles. “I’m going with Tyson Fury. For sure. We have to do the rematch,” said Wilder. “It was a controversial fight, and when it’s like that you have to.”
However – and here’s the rub – there is a good argument to suggest that after the fight with Fury, in which Wilder was completely outboxed, the American’s team could be considering signing to fight Joshua. If Wilder fights Joshua, it is a 50-50 fight for all the belts, winner takes all. And Wilder’s very heavy hands could account for Joshua.
U-turns are common in boxing, and there may well be side deals going on, so it would be no surprise if it all changes within a month.
It was also an emotional night at the venue for Charlie Edwards, the 24-year-old from Croydon, who boxed brilliantly to claim the coveted World Boxing Council flyweight title from the Nicaraguan Cristofer Rosales, dedicating the victory to his mother Terry, who has suffered both cancer and brain disease in the last four years.
She watched events unfold from ringside, where her son won118-110, 117-111, 116-112 in a landslide triumph. “I’m an emotional man and it meant so much. We are small family unit, very close knit and I wanted to do this for her. She’s had to be more of a fighter than me in the last four years,” Edwards told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.
It was a heart-warming tale on the final evening for major fight nights this year, and although Whyte-Chisora clashed with Josh Warrington-Carl Frampton in Manchester on Saturday, it underlined what an outstanding year it has been for British boxing.
In the heavyweight division alone, Britain has five fighters in the top 10 rankings with the sanctioning bodies. The key is getting the best to fight the best, which ought to be the sport’s New Year’s resolution. But we know what happens with those – they are almost invariably broken.
This article first appeared in The Daily Telegraph
See Also:
2018 Boxing review:
Boxing Review of 2018: Tyson Fury’s Comeback and Josh Warrington’s rise to world champion