Dillian Whyte ready to ‘step up’ and fight Anthony Joshua after Tyson Fury delays

Dillian Whyte has declared himself ready to ‘step up’ and fight Anthony Joshua in December after Tyson Fury claimed a Battle of Britain with long-term rival AJ was now off.  

On Monday night Fury insisted he will not be fighting heavyweight rival Joshua in after his fellow Brit missed a deadline of 5pm on Monday to sign the contract.

Fury has become frustrated with what he perceives to be a lack of movement from Joshua’s camp and set the take-it-or-leave-it 5pm deadline to the Watford-born fighter, which he claims was not met. 

As a result the eagerly anticipated Battle of Britain dust-up is in jeopardy and Whyte, who lost to Joshua back in 2015, is ready to capitalise.  

‘If the Fury fight doesn’t get made with Joshua then me and him can fight in December if he wants,’ Whyte told Sky Sports.

‘He’s training for it, he’s ready for it, he’s willing to take Fury on so if that fight doesn’t get made I’ll step up and take the fight with Joshua. That would be a great fight.’

Knowing the sport inside out, Whyte is well aware that there is a lot of posturing on both sides of the Fury and Joshua camps. 

Fury is being, in Whyte’s opinion, ‘very silly’ with his consistent uploads on social media and the Gypsy King’s latest video, released on Monday, appeared to extinguish hopes of a fight with Joshua. 

Joshua suffered his second-successive loss against Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia last month

‘Well guys, it’s official: D-Day has come and gone,’ Fury said. ‘It’s gone past 5 o’clock [on] Monday, no contract has been signed. It’s officially over for Joshua. He is now out in the cold with the wolfpack. Forget about it.

‘Idiot, coward, s*** house bodybuilder. Always knew it, always knew you didn’t have the minerals to fight the Gypsy King. 

‘Regardless of what the f*** you say now, I don’t really care. Good luck with your career and your life. End of.’

Joshua has appeared calm in the face of Fury’s demands on social media, and insisted on Sunday that he would sign for the huge domestic clash.

‘I’ve been signing contracts for years,’ said Joshua. ‘It ain’t in my hands, it’s with a legal team. That’s why you hire lawyers. If you know the history of boxing, you make sure you get your legal terms right. That’s why you’ve got good management and good lawyers.

‘So, of course, I’m going to sign the contract. It’s just with some lawyers at the minute.’

Asked if he really believes there is life in negotiations to get Fury versus Joshua back on the table, Whyte added: ‘I think it can happen but Fury is putting a lot of pressure on, using social media which has been a bit silly really.

‘These big fights take time because there’s a lot that goes into it. The team puts a lot into it, there’s a lot of commercial things and protecting your best interests and protecting your rights and obviously these guys are on two different TV stations so there’s a lot that goes into it.’

It would be in Whyte’s interests for Fury and Joshua to continue butting heads as he targets his own mega-fight in the heavyweight division. 

The ‘Body Snatcher’ first shared the ring with British rival Joshua in December 2015 when Joshua was awarded victory by technical knockout. 

Whyte, too, has experience against Fury having faced the Gypsy King, and WBC heavyweight champion, back in April. He lost by technical knockout in round six.