Bad Intentions: Joshua and Whyte go Head-to-Head

By Olly Campbell - 11/03/2015 - Comments

Unbeaten British heavyweight prospects Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14ko) and Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13ko) met head-to-head for the first time ahead of their Dec. 12 ‘Bad Intentions’ fight today in London, with Whyte placing his hand on Joshua’s heart, saying ‘we’re gonna do this.’

The two will square of on an as-yet-unconfirmed, though what’s expected to be PPV, bill from the O2 Arena, in what promoter Eddie Hearn today called ‘the biggest UK fight of the year.’

Both fighters have come on leaps and bounds since their amateur encounter six years ago, a scrappy fight that Whyte won on points while both men were relative novices.

Joshua then went on to win super-heavyweight gold at his home Olympics in London in 2012, before embarking on his current knockout streak of 14 early victories in a row, while Whyte turned pro in 2011 and has amassed an almost identical professional ledger in the time since, despite serving a 2 year ban for unknowingly consuming a chemical on the banned list in a then-legal, over the counter supplement in 2012.

He returned to action a year ago, quickly amassing 7 wins, 2 of them under the Matchroom banner as he geared up for the clash with the Watford Olympian, which is set to be a crunch bout for both men, with Commonwealth and (vacant) British heavyweight titles on the line.

YouTube video

“British boxing is in a good place right now,” he said. “This is gonna be probably the hardest fight of my career, so that’s what we’ve prepared for; a hard, twelve round fight but I doubt it’s gonna go 12 to be honest!

“I’m just as powerful [as Joshua], we’ve both beaten everyone we fought and I [already] beat him once and I will do it again,” he added. “Sport is about competition, about rivalry. He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him. It’s as simple as that.”

“I’m approaching this with the same attitude I have my whole professional career,” said Joshua. “This is just another step up the ladder, Britsh title. It doesn’t matter if it was Dillian or someone else. I approach it with the same attitude, the same hunger that I do anyone I fight. This one just has a little bit more needle.

“The best man will come out victorious,” he added.

YouTube video

Twitter @undilutedpoison