Dillian Whyte has told Anthony Joshua to stay away from his fight with Tyson Fury tomorrow night.
Whyte faces a daunting task as he attempts to become the first man to inflict defeat on Fury - and snatch his heavyweight world title on the hallowed turf of Wembley. The record 94,000 crowd will include stars from across the celebrity spectrum - but Whyte does not want Joshua to be among them.
The former champion is currently preparing for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk which is pencilled in to take place in Saudi Arabia on July 23. And Whyte told The Sun : "I don’t want AJ at my fight. He needs to fight Usyk and focus on that. In the build-up to the last Usyk fight he was too worried about re-matching me and telling people he wanted to beat me up.
"I wanted to shout out ‘bro, leave me alone and focus on Usyk’. And then look what happened, he got in the fight and looked spaced out, clueless. He needs to focus on what he has to do, he needs to forget becoming undisputed and worry about Usyk, because if he doesn’t beat Usyk then where does he go?
"Now is the best time to face Usyk, who knows where the poor guy’s head is at. If you can’t beat Usyk now - with what he has been through - then you never will. I don’t want Anthony Joshua to retire because I want to fight him again."
Will Tyson Fury beat Dillian Whyte? Let us know in the comments section below
Whyte defeated Joshua in the amateur code but was then stopped by his London rival in their professional rematch. Joshua went on to become the unified heavyweight world champion while Whyte has been made to wait for his chance at the highest level.
He will attempt to grab that opportunity tomorrow night against the lineal champion who is fighting at home for the first time since 2018. Fury embarked on a five-fight stint in America which was bookended by his fist and third fights with Deontay Wilder. Having been held to a controversial draw in their first meeting, Fury stopped his American foe in their second and third instalments to settle their rivalry.
