Straight from Saudi Arabia, Dillian Whyte has shared his words of wisdom for fellow heavyweight and compatriot Anthony Joshua.
The 31-year-old is starring on the undercard of Joshua’s ‘Clash on the Dunes’, which sees Joshua try and recapture his WBO, WBA, IBO and IBF crowns from Andy Ruiz Jr. in Al-Diriyah on December 7.
AJ and Whyte shared a moment following an open training session ahead of the hotly-anticipated fight night, which Whyte divulged to The Sportsman.
“I said to him good luck, just focus on your thing.
“Go and win the belts and bring them back so we can have a massive heavyweight fight back home.”
Whyte and Joshua first met, professionally, in the ring back in 2015, with AJ coming out top in the battle of the Brits with a seventh-round knockout.
It was also in the seventh that Joshua suffered the first stoppage of his career, to Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden in June in one of the biggest boxing upsets of all time.
In preparation for the rematch with the Mexican-American, Joshua has noticeably shed a lot of weight, with promoter Eddie Hearn stating that he expects him to come in at around 17st 2lb, down about eight pounds from the man who showed up in New York City less than six months ago.
“Leaner don’t mean nothing,” stated Whyte when asked if he believes this is a fundamental part of Joshua and his camp’s plan.
“I just hope his head’s in the right place. I hope that he don’t [sic] listen to people and try and change his style too much."
Whyte, imagining stepping into his one-time rival’s shoes, also advised him to "use his jab more" and "tighten up on the inside."
“Use your jab and walk him onto the uppercut,” was his message.
If anyone knows what he’s talking about, it’s Whyte. He was on the receiving end of one of those uppercuts in his loss to Joshua at the O2 Arena almost exactly four years ago to the day.
Whyte is returning to the ring for the first time since beating Oscar Rivas in July to face Mariusz Wach, the bout being sanctioned despite an adverse finding in a Whyte anti-doping sample.
On his own battle and his opponent this time around, Poland’s Wach who once fought Wladimir Klitschko for the world heavyweight title, Whyte explained:
“I’m very pleased to be back in the ring. Mariusz Wach is very credible. I could’ve come back to a much easier fight than this.
“I wanted someone who’s going to challenge me and give me runs and be dangerous and he’s perfect.”
Looking towards the future at any bouts, maybe even that mooted potentially even more headline-grabbing rematch with Joshua, Whyte kept his message simple.
Whoever wants it can get it.
