Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte’s rivalry could be on show once again in 2023, with rumours of Joshua vs Whyte 2 rife. Find out the rumours so far and the history of their matchup.

Last Updated: 21/04/23 at 17:03

Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte are strong competitors who have faced off against each other once before in what became a heated contest.

With rumours that a potential Joshua vs Whyte 2 fight could be on the cards, we look back at their history against one another, as well as how they match up now and speculate where and when the fight could happen.

Joshua vs Whyte History

Amateur Bout

The first time Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte faced off was in an amateur contest in 2009. The three-round fight went the way of Whyte, marking a victory in his first amateur fight.

While Whyte turned pro after only six amateur fights, Joshua stayed as an amateur and won the silver medal at the 2011 World Championships, then won gold at the 2012 Olympics.

Eventually, Joshua turned pro in 2013, and two years later, the pair met again in the ring.

Joshua vs Whyte I

Heading into the fight, both men were unbeaten - AJ was 14-0 and Whyte was 16-0. Someone’s perfect record had to go because there was no chance this was playing out to a draw.

The two heavyweights were throwing vicious verbal jabs towards each other at every opportunity: press conferences, at the weigh-in, and most notably, during a special Sky Sports Boxing show called, ‘The Gloves Are Off’.

Everything was building the event up, hyping the nation, and simultaneously helping put both up-and-coming fighters into the limelight. And when the fight came around, people were indeed invested. It was the highest bought pay-per-view for Sky Sports Boxing since Wladimir Klitschko vs David Haye in 2011.

The first round bell rang and both men came out swinging - Joshua more so, however. A big moment came at the end of the first round, and it almost led to the fight getting called off.

As the bell rang for the end of the first, Joshua threw a left hook that connected to Whyte’s head. This infuriated Whyte, and he went after AJ, throwing punches of his own, even after the ref tried separating them both.

The corner teams for the fighters had to get into the ring to bring their fighters to their side and calm them down.

There were no more incidents after that, but it was clear that the level of intensity had somehow been taken to even higher heights.

At this point in Joshua’s career, he had never gone past the third round. He always had his opponents finished within the first three rounds.

Whyte was a proper brawler. He was soaking up almost all of AJ’s shots and then would dish some of his own out. At one point in the third round, he even had Joshua rattled.

But in the end, it was AJ who exacted his revenge from their amateur fight. In the seventh round, Joshua threw a right hook that connected with Whyte’s temple. Whyte stepped back but was standing on noodle legs. It was the beginning of the end.

AJ sent a flurry of attacks at Whyte, attacking while he was wounded. Whyte bounced off the ropes but seemed to be gathering himself again. But Joshua kept going. Finally, a right uppercut found its target, and Whyte was dropped almost fully, falling through the bottom rope.

It was a brilliant win for AJ against a strong and fairly even opponent, which did a lot for his stock. The fight was also for some fairly distinguished gold. The vacant British heavyweight title was on the line, as was Joshua’s WBC International and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.

Joshua vs Whyte: How they match up now

Dillian Whyte has maintained a hostile approach towards Anthony Joshua, taking shots at him anytime he could. Joshua was no angel, though, as he would often dismiss Whyte without considering him a proper challenger.

Ever since that fight in 2015, both fighters’ careers have played out very differently. AJ went on to become a two-time unified heavyweight champion.

Whyte only ever held a top belt for a short time, becoming interim WBC champion, losing it, and then regaining it to Alexander Povetkin in consecutive fights, before properly losing it when he lost to Tyson Fury, the actual WBC champion, in April 2022.

With that said, both fighters have lost their last fights, with Joshua’s being particularly devastating as it was a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk for his unified titles he had lost the year prior.

AJ is in poor form at the moment, having lost three of his last five fights, with two consecutive losses now. Whyte, on the other hand, has three wins in his last five with two losses.

A rematch between AJ and Whyte would be very different from the last one. Both are older and wiser now and probably wouldn’t go all out swinging like before.

The mental aspect would play a big part, too. Joshua’s mentality has been called into question after his second loss to Usyk, and it would likely be a big talking point building up to whoever his next fight is against, but especially against Whyte.

When and where could Joshua vs Whyte 2 happen?

This is purely speculation, as there is nothing confirmed.

More talk has been given to Joshua facing Deontay Wilder in December this year in Saudi Arabia, something that seems close to be announced properly.

However, AJ has come out to say that he would be happy to take a fight before then as well, with a view of a bout this summer looking likely. This is where the AJ vs Whyte 2 talks are stemming from.

Should these two go at it once again, the potential fight would likely happen in England, and most likely London.

We will be keeping this blog updating with the latest developments, so be sure to come back here regularly.

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