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Mike Coppinger, ESPN
Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will meet Dillian Whyte in a rematch on Aug. 12 at The O2 in London..
The fight will be broadcast on DAZN PPV in the U.K.; it will be available to DAZN subscribers in the U.S.
“I’ve been clear that my plan is to be active this year,” Joshua said in a statement. “August 12 is the date, I’ll be ready to fight. I look forward to dealing with business.”
Added Whyte: “I’m looking forward to returning to the London O2 on August 12 and going to war.”
When they faced off in December 2015, Joshua defeated Whyte via seventh-round TKO but was forced to survive some rocky moments early on against his former amateur rival. Nearly 8 years later, Joshua will look to beat Whyte again with a potential mega fight vs. Deontay Wilder on the line.
Joshua and Wilder, a former heavyweight champion, remain in talks for a fight in December in Saudi Arabia, but AJ will have to defeat Whyte first. And with such a big-money fight potentially waiting for Joshua, Whyte is a dangerous choice of opponent.
Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) scored a wide-points victory over Jermaine Franklin in his first fight with Derrick James, ESPN’s 2022 Trainer of the Year, leading his corner. The victory came five months after Whyte scored a controversial decision victory over Franklin.
Now training in Dallas, Joshua, 33, is looking to become a three-time heavyweight champion.
An Olympic gold medalist from England, Joshua lost his three titles to Andy Ruiz in June 2019 in one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight championship history.
𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄.
The rematch between @anthonyjoshua & @DillianWhyte is LIVE on DAZN and DAZN PPV in the UK and Ireland on August 12. #JoshuaWhyte2 | @TheO2 pic.twitter.com/sNYhcqbWMq
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) July 6, 2023
AJ regained his titles in December 2019 with a decision victory over Ruiz in the rematch and made a successful defense of the unified championship with a ninth-round KO of Kubrat Pulev.
However, Joshua lost his titles a second time when he met former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021. Usyk outpointed Joshua again in the August 2022 rematch.
Joshua, ESPN’s No. 4 heavyweight, parted ways with longtime trainer Rob McCracken following the first Usyk loss and then ended his partnership with Robert Garcia after only one fight.
Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) was stopped in Round 6 by Tyson Fury in his long-awaited first title shot last April at London’s Wembley Stadium. Prior to the Fury loss, Whyte, a 36-year-old Londoner, scored a fourth-round TKO of Alexander Povetkin in March 2021 to avenge a fifth-round KO defeat in August 2020.
Whyte, ESPN’s No. 7 heavyweight, also owns wins over Joseph Parker and Derek Chisora. He objected to a rematch clause in the contract, which was removed by promoter Matchroom Boxing last week.