Dillian Whyte has rubbished talk that Anthony Joshua should retire and believes his old heavyweight rival still has plenty to offer in boxing’s glamour division.
Former two-time world champion Joshua has faced some calls from ex-fighters, coaches and fans to hang up his boxing gloves for good following his devastating defeat to Daniel Dubois in an IBF world title showdown. Joshua, 35, was put down four times by the man eight years his junior in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium back in September, losing the fight by knockout in round five after failing to get up from a heavy counter shot.
Joshua had gone into the bout as a big favourite but was handed the fourth loss of his professional career, taking his record to 28 wins and four defeats. However, Whyte sees no reason why the 2012 Olympic gold medallist should not continue in his goal to become a three-time world champion and has hit out at the brutal nature of the heavyweight division.
Whyte, 36, bested Joshua in the amateur ranks in 2009 but the latter was able to get his own back by knocking Whyte out inside seven rounds to claim the British and Commonwealth titles six years later. The duo were set to face off for a third time in August last year until Whyte was prevented from taking part after testing positive for a banned substance.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Whyte – who makes his ring return against Ghana’s Ebenezer Tetteh next month – said: “I don’t know, it’s hard to say. He has still got a lot left in the tank and is still a big draw. As you could see in the fight (with Dubois) he is still a big puncher. He had Dubois going until Dubois landed the finishing blow.
“He is young, strong, still in amazing shape and has a lot of fight left in him. People put too much emphasis on a defeat in heavyweight boxing. That’s why a lot of fights don’t get made or don’t happen because people put a lot of emphasis on winning, losing and drawing instead of enjoying the fact that two top guys are fighting each other, which wasn’t happening a few years ago.”
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