Where was the ‘maximum violence’? Anthony Joshua questions Dillian Whyte’s mean streak after KO defeat

SPARK SPORT

Alexander Povetkin scores stunning fifth round KO over Dillian Whyte.

World heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua was left questioning whether Dillian Whyte has lost his killer instinct following his stunning knockout defeat to Alexander Povetkin.

Whyte’s hopes of securing a shot at WBC title-holder Tyson Fury were shattered courtesy of a vicious left uppercut by Povetkin in the fifth round that knocked him out cold.

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Dillian Whyte was knocked out in the fifth round by Alexander Povetkin.

The bout was Whyte’s to lose after he dropped the Russian twice in the previous four rounds.

And Joshua, who was ringside at Matchroom HQ in Essex, was shocked that his fellow Brit didn’t finish the job when he had the chance.

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“I asked [Sky Sports UK analyst] Johnny (Nelson), ‘Does Dillian still have that instinct in him?’ Because the fight was called maximum violence,” Joshua told Sky Sports UK.

“When he had the opportunity to take him out, I wanted to see that maximum violence.

“That’s why for me, when I smell blood, I go in there to take someone out, but sometimes you can get caught in the exchange.

“But at the end of the day, if you leave it a round or two later, as we’ve seen there anything can happen.”

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Anthony Joshua has backed fellow Brit Dillian Whyte to rebound from the setback.

The loss was only the second of Whyte’s career and first since he was stopped by Joshua in 2015.

Joshua backed ‘The Body Snatcher’ to quickly bounce back.

“This is just a blip in the career. People are going to talk all sorts of stuff about Dillian,” Joshua told Sky Sports UK.

“Dillian is a fighter, I stick with him as fighter and say, ‘dust yourself off, get back up, and go again.'”

There was no such sympathy towards Whyte from Fury’s legendary promoter Bob Arum, who chimed in on Twitter.

“Dillian Whyte was so busy fighting for his WBC mandatory position that he didn’t see Povetkin’s uppercut, which knocked him cold on his a..,” the American wrote.

Arum also had a warning for Joshua, who is set to put his IBF, WBO and WBA belts on the line against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in December.

“Pulev will KO Joshua next. London Bridges are falling,” Arum tweeted.

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