Former world champion Josh Warrington is backing the scenario of an upset when Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte collide for a second time on August 12.
Their first encounter took place in December of 2015, with Joshua coming away with a knockout victory in the seventh round.
Both heavyweights are coming back from wins over the same boxer. Most observers felt Joshua and Whyte were underwhelming in their respective decision victories over Jermaine Franklin.
Should Joshua win his upcoming fight, there is already a deal in place to collide with former WBC world champion Deontay Wilder on a date in December in Saudi Arabia.
Because Joshua will be looking to make a statement in the rematch, Warrington views that aspect as a big positive for Whyte.
“It’s gonna be a tough fight, I do believe this AJ vs Whyte fight is gonna be a lot closer than the first one. I don’t think AJ’s on the slide, but I feel like he’ll wanna prove something. Not only to himself, but to everyone else,” Warrington told Talk Sport.
“To show that he has still got it, to show that he is still that aggressive animal that he can be. But that’s gonna play well into Dillian, because Dillian loves to be in the trenches in a fight. It’s not the end of the road, but I’m gonna be favoring towards Dillian in this one.”
Should Joshua lose his next assignment, Warrington does not expect him to retire – because another big win would rejuvenate his entire career.
“Maybe his limelight might die down for a few months, but I don’t feel like he’s done. Say if he did lose and he came back against someone like Deontay Wilder and beat Wilder, it’s heavyweight boxing,” Warrington said.
“Football teams can be on a good run of form, have one loss and then next week have the chance to make up for it. But in boxing, as soon as you take a loss, that’s it, you’re ‘done’. But then you come back, you beat somebody else and then you’re back on form again.”