Dillian Whyte has backed Anthony Joshua to bounce back and secure his revenge against Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua will attempt to regain his unified heavyweight world titles in a rematch against his Ukrainian rival at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia this Saturday night. 'AJ' was outboxed by Usyk last September, but has made a number of changes in a bid to find his redemption, including the addition of new trainer Robert Garcia.
A win for the British heavyweight could set up a number of huge fights including a shot at long-term rival Tyson Fury for the undisputed titles. And Whyte, who was beaten by Joshua in a domestic clash back in 2015, believes Joshua can knock out Usyk if he channels his aggression. "It's a massive fight, the biggest fight of his career," Whyte told Sky Sports.
"I do expect him to bounce back, he's a British fighter like me and I only support our own, so I do hope he gets the job done. I can understand that [rediscovering his aggressive side], because I'm of the same mindset as well. It's good for me if he wins as well. I think it's the right mindset he needs going into the fight, it's the only way he wins the fight.
"When we fought, we fought twice, both fights we had there was a lot of aggression between me and him in the fight, that's the difference between fighting me and fighting Usyk, that aggression wasn't there. He was sort of trying to outbox someone who has been boxing for 25/30 years. I believe if he revisits that aggression he had for me he does a much better job and probably beats Usyk and knocks him out this time."
Whyte could be a prominent option for Joshua if he wins or loses, having had a good relationship with Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn who has promoted most of his heavyweight fights. However Joshua will be hoping that a win will see him pushed back into pole position for a shot at Fury, who recently vacated his Ring Magazine title and claims he has retired from the sport.
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However Joshua will first face an uphill battle with Usyk going into the fight as the favourite this time out, having dominated the Briton in the UK. And legendary heavyweight Mike Tyson believes if Joshua can escape Usyk's relentless jab, he could overturn defeat this weekend. "It's going to be hard to beat him," Tyson said during an Instagram Live.
"It's going to be hard to beat Usyk because he's fast and he out-punches you with his jab. Joshua needs to learn to get away from his jab because that's the one thing he couldn't handle - his jab and his movement, he was too fast for Joshua. So Joshua has to put a lot of pressure on him and keep that going all night."
