Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte will fight again on August 12 at the O2 Arena in London.
Following his defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, AJ is on the comeback trail and has now selected Whyte as his next opponent.
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The 33-year-old returned in April with a unanimous decision win over Jermaine Franklin, who Whyte himself outpointed in November.
It’s already known that Joshua’s plan is to travel to Saudi Arabia in December/January for a mega-money showdown against Deontay Wilder.
That fight is already in advanced talks with promoter Eddie Hearn saying over the weekend that a deal in principle is ‘virtually agreed’.
In the meantime, though, AJ wants to have a second fight under the guidance of new trainer Derrick James.
“I’ve been clear that my plan is to be active this year,” said Joshua. “August 12 is the date, I’ll be ready to fight. I look forward to dealing with business.”
“I’m looking forward to returning to the London O2 on August 12 and going to war,” said Whyte. “It’s 1-1 so this is the decider!”
Whyte has jumped at this opportunity and the bitter British heavyweight rivals are set to conclude a feud which began in 2009.
Their first meeting came in a famous amateur fight 14 years ago, which was Joshua’s third contest and Whyte’s debut (although he had prior kickboxing experience).
A 20-year-old Whyte floored the 19-year-old Joshua and beat him on points after three rounds.
However, it was AJ’s amateur career that went from strength to strength after this as he progressed to the GB team and won Olympic gold at London 2012.
When they met again as professionals for the vacant British title in 2015, Joshua was the heavy favourite despite the fact they were both unbeaten young pros.
This time, the 26-year-old AJ attacked the 27-year-old Whyte from the off and hurt him in the opening round.
Joshua even hit his opponent after the bell, provoking a mass brawl at the end of round one.
Remarkably, Whyte bounced back and shook AJ with a huge left hook in round two – the first time he’d been hurt in his career.
In the end though, Joshua KO’d his rival with a brutal right uppercut in round seven.
Now, a further eight years later, the pair will finally end their rivalry on August 12.
