Hot prospect Joshua, who has won all his first 14 fights with impressive knock-outs, faces the toughest opponent of his career so far in Dillian Whyte on Saturday, but admitted he has thought about a potential bout with Haye in the future. Things certainly got chippy at the final press conference this week, while the Irishman sparked trouble at the weigh-in as he planted an unwelcome kiss on his opponent, who initially came in over the weight limit.
Advertisement
The card also features the likes of Tony Bellew, Luke Campbell, Kevin Mitchell and Paulie Malignaggi, but all eyes will be on the heavyweight clash to round off the night. Dereck Chisora was recently added to the bill as a replacement for Josh Warrington, who withdrew from the defence of his WBC global featherweight title against Jorge Sanchez due to a virus.
“When I turned pro, [Britain’s former heavyweight world champion] Lennox Lewis said to me, ‘Forget what you did as an amateur, you are a pro now.’ I take that attitude into this fight”. That was it. When I got past that and I was found not guilty I carried on boxing.
“The gravity of the situation he is in has slowly begun to dawn on him in the build-up”.
“I’ll stand over him laughing, for talking all that rubbish about me”.
“I never had any intention of being a boxer”. “Once the rounds went on, I started relaxing, and I saw certain shots I could throw”.
Spike O’Sullivan: “He obviously has the Eubank name, so there is going to be a bit of pressure on him anyway, but he carries on like a bit of a plonker and he’s very arrogant and disrespectful for the fans and has a persona about him”.
“That was part of my story and I’m here now and that’s all that matters – I’m still going strong”, he said. “(But) I know what he possesses and what I’ve already dealt with so I think I should be okay”.
“He’s been fighting old men with lots of losses on their record”, Whyte said.
“I had the strength to knock him out and I had the same power in the first round as I had in the seventh”.
Advertisement
Haye, whose two career defeats have come against Carl Thompson (in 2004) and Wladimir Klitschko (in 2011), believes the undefeated Joshua’s fight with Whyte will be a yardstick of his true capabilities. I just kept on plugging away.
