DILLIAN WHYTE believes Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury’s meeting in Marbella was STAGED – and called the heavyweight champions “jokers”.
Joshua, 30, and Fury, 31, were pictured having a quick roadside chat last month as they vacated in Spain.
WBA, IBF and WBO king AJ and his promoter Eddie Hearn insisted the viral photo came after a purely chance meeting.
But 32-year-old Whyte is not so convinced.
He told Sky Sports: “That looked so staged. Those two just met at the right time and the right place, and they were just having a casual chat?
“The way they speak on social media – they want to do this to each other. It looks like it was just staged.”
Joshua and Fury have verbally agreed to a double header in 2021, sparking fighting words from both.
But again Whyte was cynical as the two rivals kept it cordial after meeting face-to-face following their prior war of words.
He explained: “I was just laughing. I was thinking to myself, ‘look at these two jokers.’
“If I see someone and they’re talking smack about me and saying they are going to do this and do that, then when I see you, have the same energy.
“I’m not going to be standing outside your car window, standing on the sidewalk speaking to you. Come on man.”
Whyte faces 40-year-old Alexander Povetkin on August 22, defending his mandatory status.
He hopes to then force a fight with WBC champion Fury, who is contracted to a third fight against Deontay Wilder, 34, set for the end of the year.
Joshua is too targeting a return in the winter, with his mandatory title defence against Kubrat Pulev, 39, likely to fall in December.
