Dillian Whyte insists he himself is far from done, while the former world heavyweight title challenger says his former (and maybe once again) rival Anthony Joshua should certainly carry on fighting and not retire. Speaking with Sky Sports, Whyte – who will return to action to face Ebenezer Tetteh in Gibraltar on December 15 – says people go overboard when a big-name heavyweight suffers a defeat.
Whyte suggests we should be focusing more on the fact that the “two top guys are fighting each other now,” not calling for the loser to immediately look at retiring. And Whyte says he feels AJ still has a lot to offer the sport, this despite his recent KO loss at the hands of Daniel Dubois.
“He’s still got a lot left in the tank and he’s still a big draw,” Whyte said of Joshua. “And as you can see in the fight, he’s still a big puncher. He had Dubois going before Dubois landed the finishing blow. It’s hard to say, he’s young, he’s strong, he looks in amazing shape. He’s still got 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 happen. They don’t get made because people put a lot of emphasis on win, lose and draw instead of enjoying the fact that two top guys are fighting each other now, which wasn’t happening a few years ago.”
It’s true the heavyweight matchups have been great recently, with unbeaten heavyweights such as Agit Kabayel, Frank Sanchez, Arslanbek Makhmudov and others rising their “O.” But as far as Whyte suggesting AJ should carry on, could this have something to do with the fact that Whyte wants to fight him again and pick up another massive payday? No fighter who is coming back himself will say out loud that a guy who is similar in age to himself should be seriously thinking about retiring.
Whyte knows a fight with AJ is still a guaranteed money-spinner, and this may have bearing on his comments about Joshua fighting on. If Whyte can string together a couple of comeback wins, maybe a second fight between he and AJ can and will happen next summer, this when Eddie Hearn says Joshua will return to the ring?
Whyte is hoping so, no doubt.
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