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Dillian Whyte Confused With Anthony Joshua’s Performance: ‘ It Was a Bit Strange’

Published 12/14/2020, 6:30 AM EST

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via Reuters

Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has impressed almost the entire boxing community with his sensational 9 round KO win against Kubrat Pulev, before 1000 fans at the Wembley Arena on December 12.

Ending a year-long hiatus, ‘AJ’ proved his worth as a knockout specialist by flooring Pulev. However, AJ’s former foe Dillian Whyte isn’t much impressed.

‘The Body Snatcher’ tagged it as a strange performance while analyzing the fight. He hailed Joshua for claiming the win via stoppage, but at the same time, demeaned Pulev’s ability as a big puncher.

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via Reuters

According to Whyte, he could have unveiled a much more entertaining fight than Pulev. Well, Anthony Joshua knocked out Dillian Whyte in their first encounter in 2015. ‘The Body Snatcher’ has been calling for a rematch since then.

Although he is relevant to the title picture, the rematch might take some more time before meeting fruition. Meanwhile, Whyte will also look forward to avenging his recent KO loss against Alexander Povetkin.

However, he still took some time to survey Joshua’s performance against Pulev in an interaction with Matchroom Boxing.

Whyte said, “I think he (AJ) did a good job obviously. You know it was good in stages and knockout was good when it came, but it was a strange performance. He said it was that he was switching on, switching off. He was dominant and then it was like, it was a bit strange performance, to be honest.”

Dillian Whyte explores more on Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev

Joshua landed prominent shots from the very beginning and outpointed ‘The Cobra’ thoroughly. In round 8, Joshua was pushed to the corner and faced a hard time. But, he regained in round 9 with two successful knockdowns which forced the referee to wave off the contest.

Whyte believes, Joshua could have won the fight in round two or three, if he wasn’t in a double mind regarding his stance.

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‘The Body Snatcher’ continued, “Let’s be honest, Kubrat Pulev is not a big puncher. I mean he (Joshua) was destroying him, but at least he turned the screw a bit. You could have made a major statement by stopping him in two, three, four rounds. But he made a big statement by stopping him in the end, but it was just a bit strange to me. It was like, he was trapped between two or three different styles.”

He added, “He (AJ) wasn’t sure. Maybe he was discovering his style and trying to work out what he is and what he is trying to be. So, it’s a bit strange. I would have been a lot more dangerous than Pulev, it would have been a much more exciting fight, that’s a fact.”

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Joshua will now look to seal the title unification fight against WBC champion Tyson Fury. Both the sides have agreed to settle the contest and the promoters are also on the same tide. So, it makes Whyte wait in the queue until the champions collide.

What do you make of Whyte’s comments?

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Written by:

Raj Sarkar

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A senior boxing writer at EssentiallySports, Raj Sarkar is a mass media graduate who is currently pursuing his master’s degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to his current role, he has worked with the MMA team at EssentiallySports and has interviewed prominent fighters such as Ritu Phogat and 'The Red King' Rory MacDonald. He combined his bachelor's degree with his adoration for combat sports and has a combined 2000 plus bylines in MMA and boxing over the last two years.
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