Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte II

Agreement finally reached for the ‘grudge match’.
August 12, at the O2 Arena in London.
If Joshua has anything left he’ll pancake Whyte pretty easily.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Agreement finally reached for the ‘grudge match’.
August 12, at the O2 Arena in London.
If Joshua has anything left he’ll pancake Whyte pretty easily.

Since they last fought both have gotten better but also perhaps a little worse.

AJ has had a stellar rise but has been pegged back first by Andy Ruiz (first fight) and then by Usyk. AJ's performances against Usyk seemed a little hesitant - not letting his hands go etc - but maybe we are all underestimating Usyk. Maybe Usyk is just brilliant. Many have the feeling that Usyk is vulnerable and would be knocked out if a heavyweight punch were to be properly landed but we can't know for sure until it happens. However it does seem that AJ is now hesitant in letting his hands go and is himself vulnerable to certain punches if landed flush (around the ear / temple).

With Dillian Whyte it seems he has let himself go a bit (training, conditioning, focus) following all the delays he had getting a title fight and then being banned for a period of time. However against Tyson Fury the manner of his defeat seemed disappointing at the least. Whyte seemed to have no idea how to get to Fury - sometimes lunging and missing - and then being knocked down and out to what looked like a fairly "light" weight upper cut that Whyte just didn't see coming.

I see this fight most likely ending in some sort of stoppage. Either Whyte gets knocked down and out by an uppercut or AJ getting scrambled by a shot to the temple and then Whyte follows that up and then the referee steps in to stop it. Of course it is possible that AJ demonstrates his new found defensive abilities and controls the fight with a jab and wins on points or catches Whyte in the second half of the fight for a stoppage. For Whyte to win he probably has to do some severe damage to AJ in the first half of the fight.

Dazn subscribers are going to love paying 28 pounds for a couple of recent losers.........One stiff and another guy who is scared to engage...

Joshua points.....But I'm not really bothered.

Whyte will probably look competitive and then his head uppercut into next week for the umpteenth time. Looks and feels like a cashout fight for him. For AJ, I guess this is his step up before the Wilder fight.

AJ will win. It seems pointless doing this now. It’s just heavyweight boxing though.

RiscaGame wrote:AJ will win. It seems pointless doing this now. It’s just heavyweight boxing though.

Contenders taking on contenders wasn't pointless in the old days.......Curry fought Bruce Finch and Marlon Starling before he won the title....Starling fought Finch, Curry, Ayers, Bumphus.....

Paying £28 for this crap is pointless though for a non title fight featuring a couple of losers.

It’s a fight I’m just not bothered with. Are you saying subscribers are going to have to pay for this on top, I didn’t realise? A replay the next day will do fine, not even that actually. Just condensed highlights over two minutes will be ample, that kind of fight

Herman Jaeger wrote:It’s a fight I’m just not bothered with. Are you saying subscribers are going to have to pay for this on top, I didn’t realise?  A replay the next day will do fine, not even that actually. Just condensed highlights over two minutes will be ample, that kind of fight

Non title....and It's two guys that pretty much lost their 'last fights' comfortably......Yes AJ looked garbage against a trialhorse Whyte lucked out against.

Darren Barker (hearn lackey) "It's going to be a war...It can't go 12 rounds"

AJ's last 3 fights have gone the distance and Whyte's last fight.....

It's actually going to be a good fight I think, two top British contenders, both needing the win if they want another World Title crack, and it's already a bit of a grudge.

The scandal is the PPV price, absolutely will not be paying

Familiarity breeds contempt. AJ may not be hesitant to let his hands go if he feels that Whyte can't hurt him and doesn't respect him. Maybe his trainer doesn't want AJ to go in with abandon but to perform with controlled aggression and late stoppage.