DAVID HAYE has urged Anthony Joshua to drop plans of fighting Tyson Fury next and pick up his rivalry with Dillian Whyte.
Former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion Haye watched from ringside as AJ beat Jermaine Franklin over 12 rounds.
And Joshua opened the door to a British blockbuster for Fury’s WBC title next.
But Haye reckons a return against Whyte – who also outpointed Franklin – is the more sensible option.
He told iFL TV: “I’d like to see him in there with Dillian next, that would be nice, that makes perfect sense.
“They both went points with him, that’s a nice all British clash, London derby. I like that.”
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Joshua, 33, brutally knocked out Whyte, 34, in 2015 only six years after losing their amateur bout.
And promoter Eddie Hearn previously teased a summer stadium bout for the pair to settle their score.
But the allure of a super-fight with Fury, 34, remains, especially after his talks to unify the division against Oleksandr Usyk, 36, collapsed.
Although after AJ was taken the distance by Franklin, 29, Haye warned Joshua against those plans for now.
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He said: “I want to see him in with Dillian next. That’s not the performance to go in there with Tyson Fury.
“If he went out there and blitzed him in a couple of rounds, OK but he needs a better performance than that to jump in with Tyson, in my opinion.
“I’d like to see him in there with Dillian, where you know what it’s going to be like, it’s going to be fireworks.
“That’s a high-profile fight, lot’s of pressure someone that’s coming in that can punch. That will get everyone’s juices flowing.
“And then the winner of that can look at Fury. But Fury’s looking at fighting Usyk anyway, or is he?”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
