For a guy who has all but vanished from view, has undertaken a near social media “blackout,” Dillian Whyte is in the news quite a bit today.
(Courtesy: Queensberry Promotions)
Firstly, we are reading reports that say Whyte will NOT be attending today’s press conference with Tyson Fury (the presser set for 9 AM West Coast time), that Whyte will instead stay where he is, in Portugal where he is training for the April 23rd fight with WBC heavyweight champ Fury.
And Whyte has been making headlines over his response to Anthony Joshua’s recent “I hate him and I want to smash him one of these days,” comment. Joshua spoke about Whyte on Sunday evening, at the Lawrence Okolie fight, and he said that although he will be “rooting for Whyte” in the Fury fight, he still “hates him.”
Whyte, briefly abandoning his social media blackout, responded.
“Why so bitter,” Whyte wrote last night. “Number 1 bulls*** guy. @anthonyjoshua what did I ever do to you man. Hahahahahaha good luck in your rematch with @usyk.”
Joshua saw the post and he made an effort to say sorry, sort of.
“Hate is a strong word and I respect you champ,” AJ wrote. “I just want to fight you at some point.”
Joshua and Whyte did of course fight, back in December of 2015, and it was a great action fight, won by Joshua via 7th round KO, but not before both men had taken some hefty shots. If – and it could be a big if – both Joshua and Whyte each win their next fight we would almost certainly get a rematch, with all the heavyweight belts on the line. And that would be some fight.
But first things first, and Whyte has to score the upset against Fury, and Joshua has to avenge that heavy points loss to Usyk. It doesn’t seem too likely both challengers will manage to pull off a win but this is the unpredictable sport of heavyweight boxing and pretty much anything can happen when the big guys are in action.
Now, back to today’s scheduled presser featuring Fury and, well, just Fury. Let’s see how the one-man show goes in a few hours’ time.