The hatred runs deep between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.
Both men have been embroiled in a bitter feud for several years, stemming back to their vested days.
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Whyte beat AJ on points in an amateur bout in 2009, forming the basis for a fierce rivalry.
When they rematched as professionals six years later, all hell broke loose in the ring at the end of the opening stanza when both men landed shots way after the bell.
Security stormed the ring to separate the pair, and there was a brief consideration from the Board to stop the fight there and then.
However, the action was allowed to resume as Joshua rebounded from being rocked in the second frame to blast away Whyte inside seven rounds.
In the immediate aftermath, the heavyweight titans refused to shake hands, with the bad blood continuing to this day.
Years after their sequel, Joshua admitted to hating Whyte during a candid press scrum interview.
“I just hate Dillian,” said Joshua. “The same way he writes it off, I write off [that fight with Dillian].
“That wasn’t me performing, that was just me and Dillian having a street fight, so that wasn’t a boxing match, we just wanted to fight.
“That was like South vs North, we don’t get love like that.”
Joshua Whyte were set to settle their score in a rubber match back in August 2023.
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However, the event got cancelled after Whyte failed a pre-fight drug test for an undisclosed substance.
‘The Bodysnatcher’ was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing by the Texas Boxing Commission and allowed to continue his career.
Joshua had seemingly moved past a third fight with Whyte after stringing together a three-fight winning streak in his absence.
But a devastating knockout loss to Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight title last September has seen his stock fall considerably.
As a result, a trilogy with Whyte is back on the cards.
The Brixton puncher is set to return to the ring on June 7 on Fabio Wardley’s undercard at Portman Road.
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Meanwhile Joshua is due to get a run out at the back end of the year after recovering from shoulder surgery.
AJ’s main priority is to get the long-awaited all-British showdown with Tyson Fury over the line next, yet Whyte serves as an appealing proposition as well, given the history they share.
