Matchroom plays down talk of Anthony Joshua-Dillian Whyte 2

LONDON – Matchroom Boxing has cooled any talk of a clash between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte later this year.

Speculation arose when Joshua released images of him back in training with Oleksandr Usyk and trainer Igor Golub. The heavyweight has not fought since his sixth-round finish of Jake Paul in Miami, Florida back in December. Joshua was then looking to fight again in the spring, but tragedy struck while the heavyweight was on vacation in Nigeria in the weeks following his win. Joshua was involved in a fatal car collision where two of his closest friends Latif Ayodele and Sina Ghami were killed. Joshua came away from the incident with only minor physical injuries.

Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, revealed to BoxingScene last month that Matchroom were targeting a summer return for the heavyweight, following Joshua returning to full-training. Now that that has happened rumours have started to circulate about who could be the man in the opposing corner.

Dillian Whyte has been a name gaining traction in recent weeks. Joshua and Whyte have history, with the pair first trading leather in the unpaid ranks, followed by an entertaining clash for the British heavyweight title in 2015. Joshua would brutally stop Whyte before going on to knockout Charles Martin for the IBF strap. The pair were also due to face each other in 2023, but Whyte tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in the build up and was replaced by Robert Hellenius – whom Joshua violently finished in seven rounds.

Whyte has not fought since being stopped in the first round by rising heavyweight Moses Itauma in August, and there are questions over how much Whyte has left. There are also question marks over how the tragedy in Nigeria may have affected Joshua. Despite the rumours of a bout between Joshua and Whyte, Matchroom’s Frank Smith played down speculation of a bout between the two.

"Not really. I mean, I don't believe so, [that Whyte could be next],” Smith told BoxingScene. “Anything can happen in boxing, but I don't believe so."

Smith also stated that the focus for Matchroom at the moment is to see when Joshua will be in a good enough physical and mental condition to return to the ring: “The key is getting him into a position to actually know when he's ready, rather than picking a date before we know that. That’s the focus right now.”

So, is it likely we see Joshua return this summer?

“It would be great to get him back out in the summer, but he's back in full training now, so that'll be how he gets himself back in there,” Smith said. “He's obviously been ticking over, but it's very different to what he's been doing. He's got to be right, he's got to be prepared and ready, so hopefully we get some news soon on that.”