Anthony Joshua feels that Dillian Whyte has not improved that much if at all since their original encounter in 2015 in the professional ranks.
Joshua and Whyte will return to the scene of their December 2015 heavyweight shootout, the 02 Arena in London, on August 12th. Joshua became a two-time unified (WBA,WBO,IBF & IBO) world champion, while Whyte finally got his opportunity at the WBC world title in April of last year against Tyson Fury. Whyte was famously the number one rated heavyweight and mandatory for the WBC crown for nearly five years. When he finally got his opportunity, Whyte was subject to a highlight reel knockout by Fury in six rounds.
Joshua, who in recent times has been criticised for switching trainers in the past two years from Robert McCracken to Robert Garcia and now Derrick James, feels that Whyte is just as guilty as him and even more so than himself.
Joshua had been under the stewardship of McCracken for the majority of his career up until Joshua suffered defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021. McCraken was out, and in came Robert Garcia, who failed to help Joshua regain his heavyweight title from Usyk in August 2022 in a rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year, Joshua confirmed that he had linked up with Derrick James in Texas, with the pair successfully yet conservatively negating past Jermaine Franklin by points in April.
"Look how many times (Whyte) he’s moved trainers," Joshua said. "He’s moved trainers so many times. Maybe he’s not developing at the rate he needs to, or people aren’t teaching him the things he needs to learn, and it’s not good enough.
"He probably knows it himself. That’s probably why he’s moved trainers so much. I was thinking about this the other day. He was with [Chris] Okoh, [Mark] Tibbs, Xavier [Miller], Buddy McGirt, Johnathon Banks."
Whyte has only been in the ring after his defeat to Fury in December of last year against the previously mentioned Jermaine Franklin. Whyte fought to a narrow points win against the American; however, many observers and pundits felt Franklin had done enough to get the nod over the former world title challenger.
Although many within the industry feel Whyte is on the slide, Joshua agrees that he does not think that Whyte has improved much since their original encounter almost eight years ago. However, the two-time unified champion still takes his old domestic rival very seriously.
"One thing that he has got is the fight [inside of him], and in America, they call it the dog. He’s got the dog in him. He doesn’t lose what his foundation is. He’s one of those old-school fighters. I just think that’s what he’ll always be. Do I think he’s improved [since our first fight]? It depends who he’s fighting, styles make fights," Joshua said.
"When he’s fought a bigger guy, he’s struggled a bit. When he’s fought short, quicker guys, he gave them problems. What Dillian lacks in certain areas, he makes up for in others. I don’t think he’s improved massively [since our first fight], but he’s maintained his standard, and it’s paid off. He’s done well with that, really well. It’s taken him a long way."
