Third Time’s A Necessity
For a while, it appeared as though the fight wouldn’t happen.
The usual blame game was being played out in the media, and the latest chapter in a rivalry which developed at amateur level, before intensifying in the professional ranks, looked unlikely to get over the line.
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Suddenly, however, it was signed, sealed, delivered, and here we are.
Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte… three.
It’s fair to say, this isn’t your typical boxing trilogy. There have been no inconclusive results, no changing hands of belts and, in recent times at least, no real public demand.
But whilst Joshua sits on the verge of answering the boxing public’s nagging importunity, he knows he must fill the hole of inactivity.
And what better way to do so than to throw it down with an old foe?
And it’s an old foe who has this particular rivalry to thank for his established career among the heavyweight division’s best.
Sure, the failure to turn up at Wembley against Tyson Fury, and that calamitous night at Matchroom HQ still sit fresh in the minds of many a boxing fan.
But six PPV headlines, countless sold-out arenas, two Fight of the Year candidates and many a brutal knockout has seen Dillian Whyte forge a career which maybe the man himself could never have envisaged.
And whilst that beginning is always behind a gym door, the real take-off came in December 2015.
Back then, Joshua was still riding the crest of his 2012 London Olympic Gold medal success. He was the nation’s new sporting sweetheart.
His journey to 14-0 had been as comfortable as it comes. World honours were beckoning. However, he was yet to experience the pressure. Pressure that only a rival can enkindle.
See, a rival does many things.
They can bring out your best, or in many cases bring out your worst. They will push you to your limits and raise the bar for you to jump over. They will also never f****** rest.
That is why it just had to be Dillian Whyte.
And he played the perfect villain.
But behind the trash talk, there was a genuine disdain. One that stemmed from a pub in the North London area of Tufnell Park.
In 2009, a novice Joshua was beaten as an amateur by the debuting Whyte. It was to light the touchpaper for what was to be a decade of discord.
Of course, their 2015 bout was on a scale unprecedented to that first meeting.
A sold out O2 Arena and 600,000+ PPV buys became par-for-the-course as time went on - however it was a showing of Joshua’s pulling power, and also Whyte’s ability to play the bad guy.
A gripping seven rounds ended with a Joshua victory, but not without adversity.
In the second round, Whyte landed a left hook that stunned Joshua, silencing those inside the O2. It would be the last good punch he landed on his rival.
Joshua won the world heavyweight title four months later, whilst Whyte was forced to wait seven years for his shot at gold. It is an unforgiving world at the top of the heavyweights.
Those eight years since have been a rollercoaster of glorious unpredictability for both.
Now we sit here in 2023, with a pair less naïve, less equable, but with a bigger point to prove than ever before.
So don’t be fooled by the deceptively placid press conference we saw yesterday - these are two men with a mission. And, when that first bell does go on August 12th, you best believe all hell will break loose.
Oscar Bevis
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