BY GABRIEL PRINCEWILL
Many ordinary members of the public have taken objection to Whyte’s allegation against Joshua of drug dealing,-one Londoner saying ”it goes again the street code to even mention stuff like that”. Another 6 out of 20 people spoken to considered it ” snitching”, or playing foul with some saying Whyte was just being real. Whether the charge pronounced by Whyte against his high pedigree opponent is actual accusation, speculation, or a display of mere character assassination, he has laid the bed for a hot showdown. He has employed a psychological type of warfare on Joshua which he plans to merge with substantive action in the ring. So personal has Whyte’s attack been that he even offered him to a fist fight at the Sky studios.
His resentment for Joshua is so tangible that the inevitability of the accompanying bitterness sown in Joshua’s mind ensures an entertaining clash when the bell goes. A former kick boxing champion, Whyte brings hunger, determination, and a powerful shot to the table-powerful enough to crash Joshua’s party in the early or middle rounds. However, most experts doubt this will be the outcome and are yearning to see exactly what this fight tells us more about Joshua that we may not have known before. Joshua’s dreams will come crashing fast if he is disposed of early by this daring and confrontational puncher. Joshua is the man being primed for championship glory at professional level, so Whyte will be pressed to snatch the mantle from him and execute it himself. The question is whether he will succeed or fail
INTEREST
The clash tonight between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte has managed to whip up enough interest in their feud.
When both meet for the British and Common wealth title tonight, a lot of questions will be answered. Whether Joshua is as good as we think he is, or whether Whyte is better than he is given credit for. No doubt, Whyte can bang and has real ambitions to derail Joshua’s ride, but the latter has different ideas. After all, as the man who beat the Olympic champion in the amateurs, Joshua’s achievement of beating him to the selection process for the Olympics would have made many in Whyte’s shoes wonder how they missed an opportunity given to someone they had already beaten. Such is life, and eventual outcomes are seldom guaranteed in all cases. Someone behind you today can be in front of you tomorrow.
In this respect, tonight will provide Whyte with an opportunity to inherit all the accolades that has been bestowed on Joshua since he turned professional with Olympic gold medals in 2012. Almost everyone expects Joshua to come through this first test well. He is expected to, but Whyte is a legitimate test who may pose real questions that Joshua will be expected to pass but could fail
Then there is the added element of Whyte saying Joshua is being fake and not being himself. Time spent with Joshua in the past ostensibly places him in a position to know what Joshua was usually like, though the real question is whether there should be any problem with Joshua conducting himself respectably for the cameras, as Whyte alleges. The problem is there is a problem for Whyte, and this alongside some of the allegations levied against Joshua has created enough acrimony between the pair to secure a good fight tonight. Whyte has a greater chance than people realize, despite the favourable estimation of Joshua’s chances. It will speak volumes of Joshua if he disposes of Whyte inside 3 rounds as many are predicting because, Whyte is a durable and solid fighter. Those who know him say he is mentally tough, and he looks dangerous enough to cause the upset.
Whyte is a bit of a concussive puncher and this fight is a step up in class for Joshua. It is a risky fight for Joshua, and one that will clarify our assessment of him Joshua’s superior reach allied to his punching power also strengthens the general perception that he will win. They scales are tipped in his favour, and Dillian will become the man overnight if he becomes the first man to beat Anthony Joshua. I expect a conclusive finish by Joshua around the 6th, though an early conclusion in either mans favour is quite conceivable. It is a highly intriguing clash, and the long and short of it is that Whyte wants what Joshua has. He wants the opportunity to become a world champion, he wants the nice cars, and he has himself nurtured ambitions to fight for the Olympics. With this fight he can literally be fast tracked to an eventual world title shot, if he shatters Joshua’s world tonight. I think he has more than a decent chance of stopping the favourite, but I’ll stick with Joshua as for the final outcome.
