Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte was ringside on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, to watch former foe Anthony Joshua win a tough twelve round unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin.
The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Joshua, who dropped back to back decisions to IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Whyte is very familiar with both Joshua and Franklin. He suffered a knockout loss to Joshua in 2015, and won a close majority decision over Franklin last year.
The overall plan by promoter Eddie Hearn, was to match Joshua and Whyte in a summer rematch. That planned scenario may or may not happen in the coming months.
Whyte believes Joshua lacked aggression in the win over Franklin and appeared hesitant to pull the trigger.
“I didn’t think he looked particularly good tonight,” Whyte said on DAZN. “He seemed a bit apprehensive. Any time Franklin made a feint like he was going to hit him, he was very apprehensive.
“Obviously the right hand is still there and the boxing skills are still there, but the aggression is not there.”
According to Whyte, there were many observers who criticized him for going the distance with Franklin. He says those same observers are now praising Joshua for the same accomplishment.
“The difference is I go the distance with Franklin and everyone says, ‘oh you’re boring’. Joshua goes the distance with Franklin and he gets praised for it, he showed boxing skills and this, that and the other. The difference is in the last two rounds I went after Franklin, he didn’t. He was very apprehensive in the last two rounds,” Whyte said.
“That’s where we’re different in the fight. Win, lose or draw, I don’t care. I will have a go.”