EXCLUSIVE
‘I don’t think AJ’s on the slide’ – Josh Warrington says Anthony Joshua will want to prove he’s still ‘aggressive animal’ by beating Dillian Whyte and Deontay Wilder
Josh Warrington has told talkSPORT that he believes Anthony Joshua will want to prove a point in his upcoming rematch with Dillian Whyte.
AJ is set to face his old rival again on August 12, live on talkSPORT, and promoter Eddie Hearn has said he is 'locked in' for a Deontay Wilder showdown in Saudi Arabia in December if he wins.
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Joshua somewhat underwhelmed in his comeback win over Jermaine Franklin last time out, so is likely to desire a statement KO over Whyte.
Warrington told talkSPORT Breakfast: "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.
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"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."
Pushed for a prediction, the former two-time featherweight world champion surprisingly went for an upset as he said: "It comes down to who lands first.
"It's not the end of the road, but I'm gonna be favouring towards Dillian in this one."
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If he does indeed lose, AJ's current deal to face Wilder would be off the table and some have even suggested he should retire.
Asked about this, Warrington said: "I'm not too sure, I'm not too sure.
"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.
"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."
Joshua vs Whyte on talkSPORT
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Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte is live on talkSPORT - the home of boxing - on 12 August
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