It’ll be a Whyte good rematch!
AJ WANTS WILDER THEN DILLIAN AGAIN
ANTHONY JOSHUA is confident of fighting Deontay Wilder next year – but hopes Dillian Whyte wins on Saturday to set up a back-up plan.
The WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight champion faces Russian Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium on September 22 before returning to the London venue for another bout on April 13.
Talks for a clash against WBC king Wilder stalled last month after the American failed to sign an £11million contract.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn insists Wilder’s 50-50 demands are not acceptable and AJ reckons his rival champion will eventually accept terms for boxing’s first unification fight for all four major heavyweight titles.
Joshua, 28, said: “I don’t honestly see a reason why the Wilder fight will not get made.
“We came close a few times to getting it done. We’ve actually got months and months of history to play with to get it done so I don’t see why not. I’ve signed the contract already. When Wilder ranted with that social media stuff, ‘Hey man I’m signing the contract’ – no, get it done, and then we’ll announce it.”
If Wilder does not sign terms, Joshua hopes to face English rival Whyte – nicknamed ‘Body snatcher’ – in a rematch on April 13.
Whyte, who was stopped by Joshua in seven rounds in 2015, must first beat Kiwi Joseph Parker at the O2 Arena on Saturday.
AJ was taken to points for the first time as a professional by Parker in March and has told Whyte to box clever.
He said: “All Whyte needs to do is focus on his cardio for this fight. Different fights need different types of training methods I think. The Whyte that fought Lucas Browne in his last fight will struggle against Parker. Parker’s very quick and nimble so you need to match speed for speed.
“If I want someone to win it would be Whyte because that would set up a future fight for us.”
Joshua is also monitoring the progress of Tyson Fury, who has his second fight on the comeback trail on August 18.
Former champion Fury last month ended a ring exile of two-and-a-half years but Joshua says he still has some way to go before he is in the condition that saw him out-point Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
He said: “There’s no stopping him from stepping up. If the Wilder fight didn’t happen, I would happily fight Fury.
“He’s not in condition. He’s still two stones over to when he fought Klitschko.
“When he’s a couple pound over, half a stone over, then I’ll say he’s at his peak again.”