The final press conference between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte was full of verbal action which if translated to similar action in the ring, will be great for British boxing. Whyte went as far as accusing the Olympic gold medalist of using his sponsor from lottery providers, Camelot to sell drugs- a serious allegation that will never be proved, but nevertheless raises eye brows when something as specific and detailed as this is said about a sporting star tipped to eventually take over the reins from Lennox Lewis. He went further to say Joshua was on performance enhancing drugs then called him a fraud” and “a robot”.
The pair exchange verbal blows, before the British champion threatened to continue their feud
after the fight, saying ” after the fight, it’s not going to be the end of it. I’m going to find you and we are going to have a street brawl.”
Joshua, always cool and collective told Whyte ”just compose yourself,” but Whyte responded “that’s the problem with you. You are fraud, you are not this nice guy, you are scum. I’m more of a warrior than you are.”
Joshua then took a swipe at Whyte for pulling out of the original scheduled date in September, but that was a baseless question because Whyte had a wrist injury which was a valid reason for his withdrawal then. The fact he is now available for the fight makes Joshua’s question redundant when put in perspective. Whyte clarified the issue in this respect.
Whyte did make the full press in attendance laugh when he responded to a question about whether they were 100% physically fit, and he responded by saying Joshua’s heart needed testing and then claimed that his rival was “loaded-up” on steroids. Joshua seized the opportunity to remind Whyte that he was previously on a two year ban from the sport for using illegal substances- between October 2012 and October 2014, but the banned stimulant in question was a nutritional supplement called Jack3D, later removed from British shelves, which Whyte used without knowledge of its contents.
However, when Whyte dropped his bombshell allegation in relation to drug selling saying: “You were on the GB squad getting paid and getting your money out to sell drugs,” Joshua told the pres the drug dealing charge was in relation to possession, not with intent to supply,” In relation to steroids – I class that as a compliment for all the training I’ve been doing over the years.” Joshua accused Whyte of doing anything to assassinate his character and said the defeat he suffered in the amateurs will be irrelevant come fight night.
Joshua at the time was having his third fight as a raw novice in the amateurs whilst Whyte- a former kickboxing champion was having his first fight. That was six years ago and alot can change in six years. However, Whyte expressed his eagerness to do a number on Joshua, saying “I can’t wait to smash this robot to pieces,” he said. “I grew up around big brothers, and most big guys crumble under pressure. He’s made a mistake taking this fight. I’m not old, I’ve got ambition. I’m undefeated. I believe I can be a world champion and I am going to do what I do naturally, which is to fight.”
Today, Whyte weighed in at 17 stonne 9, two pounds heavier than Joshua, and the fight promises to be a cracker with an upset a real possibility. Joshua remains a favourite to win this clash, and told the press that though he had trained for 12 rounds, he doesn’t expect the fight to last longer than three to four rounds. We are just over 24 hours from finding out.
