Dillian Whyte Slams Oleksandr Usyk As Potential Anthony Joshua Opponent
Dillian Whyte is not a fan of Oleksandr Usyk being Anthony Joshua‘s next opponent.
Usyk is Joshua’s WBO mandatory and is seemingly next in line after the latter’s title unification clash with Tyson Fury fell through recently.
While that was a big blow for the boxing world, Usyk is far from an easy opponent and is arguably Joshua’s toughest test yet in what should be a great fight.
That said, Whyte — who undoubtedly wanted a rematch with Joshua next — doesn’t believe the former unified cruiserweight champion is a true heavyweight contender and seemingly believes “AJ” will come out on top.
“It’s a dead fight. Usyk hasn’t looked good,” Whyte told Sky Sports. “Who has he fought at heavyweight? Chazz Witherspoon, Derek Chisora. He looked terrible in the fights. He has no punch power.
“Okay, he’s got good movement, but it’s not nice movement. At cruiserweight his movement was nice, but at heavyweight, his movement is not nice. It’s just so negative. The Derek Chisora fight, I watched the first six rounds and when Derek tired, I was like, this is rubbish. Derek was out on his feet and he couldn’t even stop him. He was punching him clean and Derek was walking through. Usyk is not a true heavyweight contender.”
While cruiserweight champions have had success at heavyweight in the past, Whyte believes only a few have been able to do it and he doesn’t see Usyk being one of them.
“There are only a few fighters special enough to replicate what they did [at cruiserweight],” Whyte added. “David Haye is a good fighter. He didn’t replicate what he did at cruiserweight at heavyweight. Enzo Maccarinelli was the same.
“Evander Holyfield stands out. Evander Holyfield did it. Dwight Muhammad Qawi and those guys, moved up and did well at heavyweight, but Usyk hasn’t got the style. Now he is 105 kilos, he is going to struggle to carry that weight around the ring, and he isn’t one ounce stronger.”
A pretty strong opinion from the Briton.
Do you agree with Whyte?
