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Nick Parkinson
Dillian Whyte has banished all thought of Anthony Joshua from his mind as he focuses on facing Dereck Chisora at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday.
Whyte meets Chisora in a rematch of their thrilling brawl two years ago, with the winner expected to earn a fight with WBA-IBF-WBO world heavyweight champion Joshua at Wembley Stadium on April 13.
Jamaica-born Whyte (24-1, 17 KOs), 30, who moved to south London at the age of 12, out-pointed former WBO champion Joseph Parker in his last fight in July and has top ranking with two of the four of the world governing bodies.
Whyte, who beat Chisora on a split decision back in 2016, is ranked No.1 with the WBC, whose champion is American Deontay Wilder, as well as the WBO and is at No.4 with the WBA.
Defeat would mean Whyte loses his front-of-the-queue position for his chance to face Joshua again, after his English rival stopped him in the seventh round in December 2015, five months before Joshua became world champion.
“He’s doing his thing, he’s got four belts and I’ve got no belts, so I’m chasing belts,” Whyte said of Joshua, who he floored and out-pointed when they were amateurs in 2009.
“So good luck to him and [promoter] Eddie Hearn, let them do what they are doing, I’ve got my own thing to focus on.
“I’m not going to build a fight with him and it doesn’t happen just to keep his name and venue active.
“After I beat Chisora I should be No.1 with at least four of the governing bodies. They can’t avoid me forever. So let’s see.”
A shot for world title has so far eluded Whyte, who defeated Robert Helenius and the then unbeaten Lucas Browne before taking on Parker in July.
“If you look at the last five opponents I’ve fought and still haven’t had a world title fight, and look at the five opponents Joshua fought for his world titles, Wilder fought for his world title and Fury fought for his world title and you guys will see who’s doing all the dirty work and who isn’t scared to fight anyone,” Whyte said.
“The fans can make their minds up on that. I’ll fight anyone, I don’t hide from anyone, I don’t try to get easy fights, I don’t sit down and wait, I want to be busy and I will fight anyone put in front of me.”
Chisora (29-8, 21 KOs), 34, stopped Carlos Takam in the eighth round in July to revive his career. After becoming a born-again Christian and now working with promoter David Haye, who knocked him out in 2012, Chisora feels in a better place for his rematch with Whyte.
“It’s not going to go 12 rounds if I’m being honest,” Chisora said.
“The last time I fought him I was not 100 percent fit, more like 75, and right now I’m 250 percent fit and so excited about that.
“It has gone well, it has gone perfectly, it has put me in a great place and everything David Haye has done for me has been amazing.
“I gave myself to the Lord, I’m born again and I’ve turned my life around to help my progress and move on.
“I was burning the candle at both ends and I had to blow one end out. So no clubbing for me, no partying for me, it’s just about being a family man. I’ve given up gambling, I used to love a bet on the horses.”
Chisora, like Whyte, is chasing his own ultimate goal, a third fight with Tyson Fury, the former WBA-WBO-IBF champion who held WBC titleholder Wilder to a draw last month.
Fury twice beat Chisora before he went on to out-point Wladimir Klitschko for three world titles three years ago.
“We have to have a third one,” Chisora said.
“When I see him I say, ‘Are we going to have a third one?’ And he says, ‘We’re going to have a third one.’
“It’s our destiny to have a third fight. It will happen 100 percent, he wants the fight, I want the fight, so it’s going to happen.
“Me and Fury have the same mindset. We’ve not done enough yet, that’s the drive me and Fury have.”