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Mike Coppinger, ESPN
Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will meet Dillian Whyte in a rematch on Aug. 12 at The O2 in London..
The fight will be broadcast on DAZN PPV in the U.K.; it will be available to DAZN subscribers in the U.S.
“I’ve been clear that my plan is to be active this year,” Joshua said in a statement. “August 12 is the date, I’ll be ready to fight. I look forward to dealing with business.”
Added Whyte: “I’m looking forward to returning to the London O2 on August 12 and going to war.”
When they faced off in December 2015, Joshua defeated Whyte via seventh-round TKO but was forced to survive some rocky moments early on against his former amateur rival. Nearly 8 years later, Joshua will look to beat Whyte again with a potential mega fight vs. Deontay Wilder on the line.
Joshua and Wilder, a former heavyweight champion, remain in talks for a fight in December in Saudi Arabia, but AJ will have to defeat Whyte first. And with such a big-money fight potentially waiting for Joshua, Whyte is a dangerous choice of opponent.
Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) scored a wide-points victory over Jermaine Franklin in his first fight with Derrick James, ESPN’s 2022 Trainer of the Year, leading his corner. The victory came five months after Whyte scored a controversial decision victory over Franklin.
Now training in Dallas, Joshua, 33, is looking to become a three-time heavyweight champion.
An Olympic gold medalist from England, Joshua lost his three titles to Andy Ruiz in June 2019 in one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight championship history.
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The rematch between @anthonyjoshua & @DillianWhyte is LIVE on DAZN and DAZN PPV in the UK and Ireland on August 12. #JoshuaWhyte2 | @TheO2 pic.twitter.com/sNYhcqbWMq
β DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) July 6, 2023
AJ regained his titles in December 2019 with a decision victory over Ruiz in the rematch and made a successful defense of the unified championship with a ninth-round KO of Kubrat Pulev.
However, Joshua lost his titles a second time when he met former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021. Usyk outpointed Joshua again in the August 2022 rematch.
Joshua, ESPN’s No. 4 heavyweight, parted ways with longtime trainer Rob McCracken following the first Usyk loss and then ended his partnership with Robert Garcia after only one fight.
Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) was stopped in Round 6 by Tyson Fury in his long-awaited first title shot last April at London’s Wembley Stadium. Prior to the Fury loss, Whyte, a 36-year-old Londoner, scored a fourth-round TKO of Alexander Povetkin in March 2021 to avenge a fifth-round KO defeat in August 2020.
Whyte, ESPN’s No. 7 heavyweight, also owns wins over Joseph Parker and Derek Chisora. He objected to a rematch clause in the contract, which was removed by promoter Matchroom Boxing last week.
Source: www.espn.com