LONDON — Dillian Whyte insists he has more respect for Dereck Chisora than heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Whyte (25-1, 18 KOs) called out the onlooking IBF-WBA-WBO champion after knocking out Chisora in the 11th round of their rematch at London’s O2 Arena, with Joshua responding that he will take on Whyte in April at Wembley Stadium should a deal to fight Deontay Wilder fail to materialise.
Joshua’s less than keen response left Whyte frustrated.
“Joshua is talking rubbish man. He’s just talking rubbish,” Whyte said. “I’m not going to sit around and wait for him. I’m not going to waste three, four months of my career waiting for him, waiting to hear what he’s doing. I ain’t got time for that.
“My career needs to progress. There’s fighters that sit down and wait two years, waiting for the call. I can’t do that, time’s ticking. I’m 30, I’m about to hit my prime now. I need to act and keep building.
“We were supposed to hear about the Joshua fight after the Wilder-Fury fight. But no, nothing. Nothing yet. I can’t sit and wait for that. I’ve got to plan my future, do what I’m doing.
“I thought he’d have said let’s do it [when Whyte invited Joshua into the ring], but he was um’ing and arr’ing.
“He says, ‘I want to fight Dillian but I hope Dereck knocks him out’. Why would he hope that? He knows Dereck is nowhere near as big as me or him. The signs are there that he doesn’t really want to fight.
“My career does not depend on AJ. He’s got four of the belts but if I’m mandatory for one or two of them and he doesn’t fight me, they will strip him at some point.
“It’s only a matter of time. I need to keep working hard, winning fights and it will happen. I just hope that I don’t get sidestepped for too long.
Promoter Eddie Hearn believes there is an “80 percent” chance that Joshua fights at Wembley as scheduled on April 13 with a unification fight against WBC titlist Wilder the priority.
Hearn, though, is doubtful that fight can be made next with a rematch between Wilder and Tyson Fury looking likely.
After victory against Chisora, Whyte is now one of the frontrunners to face Joshua on that date, and it is a fight that Hearn would love to see.
“I don’t believe that Wilder will fight Joshua in April,” Hearn revealed. “We’ll sit down pretty much immediately [with Joshua and Whyte] and decide whether there is a deal to be done.
“If there is a deal to be done for that fight, there’s a very good chance that it will be next.
“I do feel as though he deserves a world title shot and I do feel as though he is either in his prime or quickly approaching it. Him against AJ is a f—— unbelievable fight.”
Other potential fights for Whyte include a WBC final eliminator with Dominic Breazeale and a clash with Jarrell Miller either in Brooklyn or London.
Whyte would welcome either fight if the Joshua bout is not made, but for now he is ready to put his bad blood with Chisora to rest.
“Everyone loves a knockout but I was a bit worried for him,” added Whyte. “I thought maybe he wouldn’t get up again.
“We’re all fighters, we all talk a lot of smack that we’re going to do this or that to each other but when someone goes down like that you worry for him. He’s got a family to go home to. We had a good chat backstage.
“Dereck, what a tough man. What a brave man as well. He’s come back from defeat so many times as well and keeps rising to the top so credit to him where it’s due.
“I’m glad I had him as a dancing partner because, in boxing, you need people that you can dance with and create excitement with. The fight week was crazy. It was all calm, all calm and then it erupted.
“I’ve done nearly 23 rounds with him. You can’t do that many rounds with someone and not respect them.