Anthony Joshua Vs Dillian Whyte Meet on the 100th Birthday of the Legend Francis Albert Sinatra – Who Will Be Able to Say, “I Did It My Way”?

By Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett

The grey drab housing estates of Watford Town – located a few miles northwest of central London – loom high over its roadways like silent sentinels. Unremarkable in every way except one. The future heavyweight champion of the world hails from these parts. Or so some would have us believe. The local football team’s claim to fame is being able to count international music icon Elton John as one of its biggest supporters and patrons – he was once the club chairman and owner – and a former manager – Graham Taylor – under whose tenure in the, 1970’s and 80’s, Watford Football Club rose like a phoenix from the old fourth division all the way to the top flight in the first division – now known as the Premier League. Soon the good people of Watford may once again have another reason to celebrate.

Joshua

Outside a local cafe two old ladies stop to give Anthony Joshua a hug. It’s a curious sight to an outsider but around the area people seem to remember him as much for his youthful waywardness as for his subsequent boxing success. And the rate of his success has been phenomenal. Joshua was once a young man in trouble with the law – arrested for possession of cannabis with intent to supply. But boxing’s power to reform misguided characters is well documented. Many young men have been reborn within the fires of its harsh discipline. Count Joshua among them.
The Watford born heavyweight took up boxing in 2007 as a way to stay in shape and away from bad influences. He started to compete the following year in 2008 and went on to win the British national amateur championship twice in successive years – 2010 and 2011, a silver medal at the world championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2011, and the Olympic Games super heavyweight gold medal in London, in 2012. All in the space of only 4 years. You couldn’t make it up.

A meteoric rise like Joshua’s is almost unheard of in other mainstream sports. Boxing may not hold the same place it used to in the public consciousness but it still remains – alongside soccer – a truly blue collar sport. A sport of the people. You will find a ball to kick or a place to practice boxing in the poorest out of the way places on earth, and in the roughest areas of big cities the world over. Such remains the strength of its appeal to young people looking for a way out of poverty to better circumstances. Fast forward to 2015 and Anthony Joshua is being built up as the new poster boy of British boxing. The expectations of a nation for eventual world dominance at heavyweight have been heaped onto his broad shoulders. It is a burden no young fighter needs nor wants.

Let the cautionary tale of fellow former Olympian David Price stand as a reminder for us not to get too carried away with the hype. Price, once also a top heavyweight prospect, found out the hard way that it only takes one punch to shatter a lifetime of dreams and now – 3 KO defeats later – his career, once so promising, lies in tatters. It may not be fair or right to burden a young prospect with such pressure but as boxing fans we can’t help ourselves. When Joshua won top honors at the 2012 London Olympic Games, and later made the decision to turn professional, all eyes and the hopes of the island nation that is Britain were upon him. And quite frankly a young, big punching heavyweight prospect with the kind of pedigree Joshua has is worth much more than his weight in gold. But somewhere in the shadows an old amateur conquerer quietly seethes.

Whyte

No one will ever accuse Dillian Whyte of not having a giant chip on his shoulder. He carries it like a heavy wet log. And Anthony Joshua’s name is firmly etched into it by Whyte’s own hand.
While Joshua has been given the superstar red carpet treatment the Jamaican born Whyte has toiled on less prestigious cards for comparatively smaller purses against nondescript opposition, their combined win, loss, draw record amounts to an unimpressive 176-250-29, he has waited patiently for the chance to prove himself as the better fighter. Whyte’s amateur victory over Joshua – a three round unanimous decision win back in 2009 – is in the past now but he finally gets the chance to prove to the boxing world what he has believed all along, “Anthony Joshua can’t survive in my world.” On December 12th we get to find out if he can back up his boast.

Make no mistake about it. The Jamaican is a tough customer. Unbeaten as a professional with a record of 16-0, 13 KO’s, Whyte was also a former British kickboxing champion – with a 20-1 record – and Mixed Martial Arts fighter prior to his short amateur career. The amateur boxing authorities took his licence away after only six contests when they found out he had been competing in martial arts matches for pay. And after serving a two year doping suspension, 2012-2014, for using an over the counter supplement which contained a banned substance – the boxer says it was an innocent mistake – Dillian Whyte is a man in a hurry.

Upon closer inspection Whyte’s best professional wins are against the formerly unbeaten – 10-0, 8 KO’s – Georgian banger Beka Lobjanidze and the grizzled American war horse Brian Minto – 41-9, 26 KO’s – by stoppage in 4 and 3 rounds respectively. In both contests Whyte showed improved footwork, went to the body hard when required, and used punishing short hooks on the inside when countering from close range. A keen observer might be tempted to ask if Joshua’s management have made a mistake in taking this fight too soon?

The Fight

British boxing fans know a good thing when they see it – evidenced by their reaction when they snapped up all available fight tickets within six hours. Such is the level of excitement surrounding this genuine grudge match. And now the much anticipated clash between domestic heavyweight rivals Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte at the O2 Arena in London is less than two weeks away. So who will rule Britannia? After the dust has settled one boxer’s world will expand with endless possibilities and for the other the world will contract. Such is the nature of winning and losing.

Joshua has yet to be extended past the third round. Since turning over to the professional ranks he has faced a mixed bag of opponents in his 14 contests. They share a combined win, loss, draw ledger of 304-127-13. This is interesting in that it highlights the fact he has been matched with quite experienced opponents relatively early on, 12 of whom had winning records. For example, he faced the brawling former British, Commonwealth, and European champion Matt Skelton in only his 7th pro bout. Skelton had 36 fights under his belt going in – 28 wins, 23 KO’s – and was a known pressure fighter. Skelton tried to rough Joshua up early in an effort to take away his composure – he managed to tag AJ with a couple right hands – but Joshua kept a cool head, regrouped and Skelton was summarily beaten down and stopped in the 2nd frame. This win should not be overlooked. I think it represents his best win to date despite Skelton’s advanced age – 47.

Joshua is clearly the sentimental favorite going in but it would be wise to temper any misty eyed enthusiasm with some caution. Whyte is by far his toughest opponent to date.

Joshua can still be a little stiff. That tension could work against him if the fight goes into the later rounds. He tends to stand straight up and lacks head movement. Can he fight on the inside? He hasn’t been forced to go backwards yet. How will he cope? And does his amateur knockout loss to Romania’s Mihai Nistor in 2011 hint at an underlying fragility?

In contrast Whyte can be a bit lax defensively. He tends to carry the lead hand very low which leaves him vulnerable to an opponent’s right hand. He goes to the body well and has a relaxed and fluid boxing style. He too is a good puncher, especially with the right hand up top. Whyte trained for this fight at the Kronk Gym under Emmanuel Steward protege Jonathan Banks. As part of his preparation he sparred with Wladimir Klitschko, but since Klitschko’s recent shock defeat to Tyson Fury the value of this might be somewhat diminished in some people’s minds. Whyte knows he’s up against the establishment going into this fight. He recently stated, “I’m up against the referee and the judges but it’s not going to make any difference.” But Joshua is not the same boxer Whyte beat in the amateurs. He is vastly improved. He has fast hands, good variety in his attack, is technically skilled, composed, and very heavy handed. Still, a couple of question marks remain. His chin and stamina have yet to be tested in the pro ranks.

Whyte will have to bring a combination of creative offense and intelligent pressure to bear to push Joshua out of his comfort zone and force him into making mistakes. Head movement, feints, and body punching will be key along with lateral footwork. Not staying in front of Joshua is going to be essential to Whyte keeping his chin out of harm’s way.

This is a pick ’em fight between two young unbeaten heavyweights with big dreams and the punching power to shatter the best laid plans of the other. For one of these young boxers all the months of training and preparation will lead to the edge of a cliff.

The question is who will it be?

I’m tentatively leaning towards Whyte to pull off the upset by a late round stoppage. I think Joshua’s management should’ve waited a bit longer and continued to develop him against a stiffer class of competition. Whyte’s body punching can disrupt Joshua’s rhythm and slow him down by the half way point. Once that happens Whyte can begin to take control. I think Joshua will have to be rescued by the referee from further punishment in 9 rounds. With Tyson Fury’s recent shock win over longtime heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko the boxing world has been turned on its proverbial head.

Whatever the outcome of Joshua vs Whyte I’d like to see the winner go forth and restore the natural order of things in the division. I’ve said previously elsewhere that when I was a kid the world heavyweight champion used to be seen as a kind of superman. A Colossus. A man to be feared and admired in equal measure. Now we’ve got Tyson Fury holding the lineal championship. John L. Sullivan must be spinning in his grave. There’s an old saying which states, “As the heavyweights go so goes boxing.” We’re in a bad way then. It’s time a young, strong, big punching, heavyweight fighter emerged to carry the sport forward into the future and attract a new generation of fans.

The Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte winner just might be that guy.

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