Former Anthony Joshua Foe Begs Him To 'Be Nasty' In Rematch With Oleksandr Usyk

Anthony Joshua is a few days away from his highly-anticipated rematch against Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday, August 20 as he looks to reclaim the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.

Many of boxing's biggest names have already made their predictions and shared their opinions in the past few weeks, but Joshua's former foe thinks he can still pull off the win.

Dillian Whyte recently spoke with Sky Sports about Joshua's chances at defeating Usyk and he believes that his fellow England native needs to go back to his vicious roots to even stand a chance against a hungry champion.

"It's a massive fight, the biggest fight of his [Joshua] career... He's the one that needs to make the decision, be dirty and be nasty," Whyte said.

"I do expect him to bounce back, he's a British fighter like me and I only support our own, so I do hope he gets the job done."

A then-undefeated Whyte was one of Joshua's victims en route to establishing his own undefeated 22-fight win streak, finishing his Jamaican-born countryman in the seventh round to claim the vacant British heavyweight title in 2015.

Both men would go on to have varying levels of success among boxing's elite heavyweights as Joshua's star rose to new heights when he defeated boxing icon Wladimir Klitschko by eleventh-round TKO two years after his victory over Whyte.

Usyk thoroughly outworked and outclassed Joshua in their first meeting in September 2021 as he used his speed advantage to overcome Joshua's towering 6-foot-6 frame.

The 2012 Olympic gold medalist had no answer for the Ukrainian's pace and accuracy as he got tagged with multiple heavy-handed punches, particularly the left straight, and it would spell disaster for Joshua as he lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Boxing fans and observers were quick to note that Joshua seemed to lack the fiery attitude that helped him reach the upper echelons of the sport throughout his career as he allowed Usyk to do whatever he wanted.

For Whyte, it is imperative that Joshua returns to the old him that struck fear into his opponents.

"I believe if he revisits that aggression he had for me, he does a much better job and probably beats Usyk and knocks him out this time," Whyte stated.

"Me and him are similar in a lot of ways, we come forward and throw a lot of punches, are aggressive and enforce ourselves on our opponents, I think they'll be trying to get him back to that."

Joshua did switch up trainers for the Usyk rematch as he let go of longtime coach Rob McCracken in favor of decorated champion turned trainer Robert Garcia, but Whyte is adamant that the change must come from Joshua himself.

Defeating Usyk will be no small task for "AJ" with all the marbles on the line as he puts up his legacy on the line against "The Cat" once more.

Usyk-Joshua 2 will take place at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, August 20 at 12:00 PM EST via DAZN.