When Anthony Joshua ducks through the ropes to face Andy Ruiz in their highly anticipated rematch on December 7 in Saudi Arabia (live on DAZN), he will have a former opponent rooting for him at ringside: Dillian Whyte.
“I hope he can improve and move on from what happened in June and win, and I want him to win,” Whyte told Sky Sports in a recent interview. “It’s better for me, it’s better for him, it’s better for British boxing.
“It’s been a long time since British boxing had so many heavyweights at the top.”
Whyte fought Joshua in 2015, buzzing Joshua at one point before getting steamrolled in the seventh round. He will fight Mariusz Wach in a 10-rounder on the Ruiz-Joshua card amid an ongoing PED scandal.
Whyte offered some thoughts on what Joshua needs to do to be victorious in the rematch.
“I just hope that Joshua hasn’t listened to what people have been saying, that he needs to lose weight, that he needs to change this, because when you take too much of that negativity, it can take away from your main strength,” Whyte said. “His main strength is being big and strong and powerful and being in physical condition more than guys he fought before.”
Whyte believes that Joshua needs to refrain from brawling and fight on the outside to be successful.
“What Joshua needs to do is drag the fight,” Whyte said. “Use his feet and his range. Get his jab going and hold him as well. Holding is part of defense as well, it’s not just using your feet all the time. Get his jab going and make it a boring fight and clip him when he’s unaware. … You need to bide your time with some fighters and break them down, give them different looks. I think that’s what he needs to do.”
Asked whether he believes Joshua will win, Whyte demurred.
“It’s heavyweight boxing, man,” he said. “I can’t say he’s going to win. I hope he wins, but you never know. sometimes fighters lose and it makes them stronger. Sometimes fighters lose and it makes them weaker. When I lost, it made me stronger. Other guys it made them weaker. I don’t know.”
Still, for Whyte’s sake, he hopes Joshua will be victorious.
“Everything is just hope at the moment,” he said. “I don’t know where he is in his life. Boxing is a hard, dangerous game. Win, lose or draw, I would still like the rematch. Even if he loses his next 10 fights, I still want the rematch.”