Talking about the bad intentions between AJ and Whyte in 2015:
Anthony Joshua: “You’ve got Dillian representing the island of Jamaica, and you’ve got me representing the continent of Africa. Your South London versus North London. You’ve got two British born heavyweights. There was a lot in the mix. It was just bad intentions for years. And then finally, we got to to face off, and square off in the square circle.”
David Haye: “It was very hostile and split right down the middle. There’s a lot of people believing that Anthony Joshua was a hype job and Dilllian Whyte was the real deal. Anthony Joshua had been to the Olympics. He was the darling of British boxing and Dillian Whyte, for instance, had to do it the hard way, fighting on small hall shows for no money effectively.”
Eddie Hearne: “This was [Anthony Joshua’s] first pay per view event in the UK. This was the first time he completely sold out the 02 but it was the first time he took a risk in a fight really. It was the first time we thought ‘Blimey – this is a real real fight’
Anthony Joshua relives the emotion of the fight:
“I didn’t have much experience at the time, so I had no plans and I didn’t have years of experience behind me. I wanted to go in there, and I wanted to box, have a look, but I was just shouting at him, like, “Come on, let’s fight, why you running? Come on!”
“I’m just telling him, “Come on! You said you wanted to war. Let’s go for it. This is about the lions of the jungle, but obviously I don’t know about punch selection here. This is where I’m fighting with pure emotion.”
“Your heart rate is now in the red zone in round one, which it should be like in round seven. It’s a 12 round fight but I went at it from round one. But at the same time, look, if I was looking from the outside as a spectator, that’s the type of fight I want to see. So I’m glad I got to give people who were watching that night, an insight into what the heavyweight division was about to be like.”
Related: Whyte Wants Rematch After Defeat To Povetkin
Anthony Joshua talks about that hit in the second round:
“Boxing is a discipline . It’s the art of sweet science, to hit and not get hit. And if that goes out the window, when you’ve got a guy who’s technically good, kickboxing background, boxing background, he knows how to throw, to hurt. He has bad intentions – his throwings actually hurt.
“So as I’ve gone to throw a right hand, you’re supposed to sit back on your back firm and rotate to get your leverage or leverage. What I did was, I leant over my front hand, which puts me in the firing line. And boom! Left hook hits me.
“I didn’t see it coming because I wasn’t interested in what’s coming back. I’m just interested in attacking DillIan, and it was a peach of a punch, and shook me down to my boots.”
Anthony Joshua on delivering the winning blow:
“I started throwing the right hook around the side, and the right hook started connecting, so instead of throwing the left, I switched to the right. So there’s a few times he threw a shot, I’d kind of ride it, right hook, and what happens is that the legs start to plant and they start to stay still. So they’re now easier… they’re an easier target to hit than someone who is moving a lot.”
“So I line them up with a lead hand, and I whip this one round one – whoomph! – it’s out of his peripheral vision. So he’s coming around – boom – lands on the side of his temple. And the same thing happened to me in round two. It shook Dillian right down to his boots. And the key to victory there was not giving them a chance to reboot, keep on sending little viruses into his system. Left here, jab here, right here and I just didn’t give him a chance for his system to reboot.”
“When you’re in that ring you feel someone’s aura and strength. All these punches and pushing and shoving, you’re feeling how strong that person is. And it’s very draining when you’ve got someone that’s just chasing you around the ring, pushing you, shoving you, punching you, leaning on you. And all you want is like five seconds to breathe. And I’m not giving them one second to kind of regain his legs and get himself together.”
Anthony Joshua talks about bad feelings after the fight:
“I don’t embrace all my opponents after fights. Only Vladimir Klitschko, Povetkin, Ruiz is a humble guy. I don’t really get too involved in the emotions of boxing. I don’t need any extra friends. I’ve got a big family, friends I grew up with. I’m good with that. So I don’t need Dillian as an extra friend, or anyone else in that matter.
“They talk a lot of rubbish before the fight, a whole heap of rubbish before the fight, after we beat each other up, then they want to say “Oh, I didn’t mean none of that. You know, you’re a great man.” I’m just “shut up. If you didn’t mean it, why did you say it in the first place.”
“Then they talk rubbish about you again, a week later in an interview. So what I tend to do is just keep my distance and I don’t embrace anyone. We’re there to fight, we’re not there to be friends and that’s just how I approach my sport.”
Anthony Joshua/ David Haye/ Eddie Hearne were talking to DAZN for its latest original production, The Making Of: Anthony Joshua. First episode is now available on DAZN.
