After both men came through their respective fights in style last night in London, new Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and bitter rival Dillian Whyte, are all set to square off on December 12th at the O2 Arena.
Despite nursing a shoulder injury in his 3rd round stoppage of overmatched late notice opponent Brian Minto, the unbeaten Whyte confirmed that he will be fit for AJ, and the injury will not put the brakes on the big domestic showdown that will also be for the vacant British title.
Expressing some disappointment at how the evening turned out last night, despite the win, Whyte said;
“I’m a little bit disappointed in the opponent and in myself but that’s life. I’ve got the win, got the belt and hopefully I’ll get the top 10 ranking and move on to fight Anthony Joshua.
“It was hard not to look past Minto. I know he’s game and a tough man so I knew he was going to come to fight but there was no way he was going to beat me.
“I want to step up and give the fans good fight. They stayed behind me when I was going through that rough patch in my career. British boxing has a history of putting on classic fights and I want to be a part of that.”
After watching Joshua blitz the previously unbeaten Gary Cornish in 90 destructive seconds, Whyte – who holds an amateur victory of the Olympic gold medalist – was unperturbed, and claims he will have the antidote to the aggressive puncher’s knockout streak in December.
“He’s (AJ) got power, he has speed and we all know he’s got that, but I know I can beat him. Why? Because I am a machine. With him there is a couple of chinks… but I am not going to say what they are when I’m here, live (on air).”
Whyte will continue to train with Wladimir Klitschko head coach, and former Emmanuel Steward charge, Jonathon Banks in preparation, and is expected to once again fly out to the new Kronk facility in Detroit as he awaits his date with destiny.
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