Olympic Gold medalist Anthony Joshua faces his old rival and former world title challenger Dillian Whyte at The O2 Arena in London, England on Saturday, August 12. The pair meets in the scheduled for 12 rounds rematch live stream on DAZN. Ahead of the event, the fighters hosted the launch press conference, previewed their bout and went face to face.
Whyte was victorious after three rounds of their amateur contest in 2009. Joshua claimed the victory via seventh-round stoppage of their professional bout in 2015. The Londoner reportedly earned over £3 million for knocking out Dillian Whyte at the O2 Arena in London.
In his previous outing in April, Anthony Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) came out on top by unanimous decision against Jermaine Franklin. With the win, British 33-year-old of Watford, Hertfordshire returned to winning ways, after suffering a pair of defeats against reigning unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“I’m definitely up for fighting,” Joshua said. “There are a lot of names in the division. But at the same time look at what this fight does. I’m a fighter but I also understand business. And this fight does good business.”
“He [Dillian] is just another body. They’ve got a lot of hate for me. But I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about my lane and what I’m trying to do. I don’t focus on other peoples opinions.”
“Boxing is about fundamentals. There’s two ways to skin and cat. You can knock someone out or outclass them. Everything I say today is irrelevant until that bells goes. I’m here to win.”
“Forget [Deontay] Wilder and all them lot. They’ve been doing my head in for years. Even with [Tyson] Fury. You can see all the lies that have been going on. I’m 34 this year and I’m not wasting my time chasing people. I have to have an underlining respect for every man, who steps in the ring with me. I could fight now. I’ve got a brilliant trainer – a serious trainer. And we’ll see where it goes.”
“It’s a massive night for my career. Victorious 100%. That’s my goal and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Dillian Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) was in action last November when he took a majority decision against Franklin. With the victory, Jamaica-born 35-year-old of Port Antonio, Portlands rebounded from the defeat suffered against current WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
“We’re still chasing improvement and we have new teams around us,” Whyte said. “We’re more experienced and have more skills. We’ve still got a lot of hunger and I can’t wait to get in there.”
“I just prepare for the best version of him [Joshua]. I don’t care what people are saying about him. I’m still coming to fight and I haven’t got anything to lose. I’m calm now – but the more you f*** about, we’ll soon find out.
“Is this a must-win fight? Every fight I’ve had with Matchroom has been like that. But I don’t worry about that. Let’s see what happens.”
“I have the power to take anyone out. If the knockout comes then great. But I’m focusing on the victory. I’ll listen to what Buddy McGirt says.”
