Joshua vs Parker: Anthony Joshua 'interested' in Dillian Whyte rematch
Thursday 22 March 2018 11:41, UK
Anthony Joshua knows old rival Dillian Whyte is plotting a route back towards him, and has welcomed the idea of a second fight.
Whyte must first defeat Lucas Browne on Saturday, live on Sky Sports, before receiving the chance to avenge his knockout loss to Joshua from late 2015.
"I like Browne as a person but I'm rooting for Dillian. I want to see him victorious," Joshua told Sky Sports.
[Whyte] wants to become a heavyweight champion so when we meet again it is massive.
"[Whyte] can move onto great things in his career. We had a good dust-up, he had a great dust-up with [Dereck] Chisora which was a world-class heavyweight fight.
"He wants a shot at a championship belt and has been calling out [WBC heavyweight title-holder Deontay] Wilder.
"He wants to become a heavyweight champion so when we meet again it is massive. It's a fight he wants again, and something I would be interested in."
Joshua will vie to unify his WBA 'super' and IBF belts with Joseph Parker's WBO equivalent on March 31, live on Sky Sports Box Office, and he has aspirations of then taking Wilder's WBC title to become the undisputed champion.
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Yet Whyte, currently ranked No 1 with the WBC, is aiming to skip the queue and challenge Wilder before ultimately rematching Joshua.
Whyte told Sky Sports this week: "We've been chasing the big fights and this fight [against Browne] should automatically take me a step closer and put me in mandatory position."
"I know Joshua isn't going to fight [Wilder] next. They are going to want to see [Wilder] fight someone proper, so we'll see.
"I want to have a fight with [Joshua] too," Whyte added. "We both want it.
"It doesn't matter where we are with our careers. If there is a chance to fight each other, we'll always fight each other. We'll always want the opportunity."
Promoter Eddie Hearn, who represents Joshua and Whyte, believes a second fight is inevitable.
"I know that Joshua will fight Whyte again," Hearn told Sky Sports this week.
"I think if you asked [Joshua] and said: 'tell me one fight in the division you want?' He would say Dillian Whyte, because he loved it, and he feels as though he wasn't at his best, because he lost his rag a little bit.
"But he's improved so much and he loves having a tear-up, and he knows Dillian will give him a tear-up.
"He loves the build-up. He wants people to go at him at the pressers, AJ. But they seem to lose their bark a little bit when they're in front of him.
"[Whyte vs Browne] is a really big fight for the division. Wilder and AJ are looking at this fight and saying: 'The winner is a million per cent on my radar'."
