Dillian Whyte held nothing back in a mocking exchange with Joe Joyce which left his rival in a brief stunned silence.
Whyte and Joyce are set to meet in a blockbuster all-British showdown which was announced today to take place at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester on April 5.
The pair came face-to-face for the first time after the announcement at a press conference alongside some other big heavyweight names that feature on the card including Lawrence Okolie and David Adeleye.
They first faced off at the front of the stage before being sat down to do the talking, something Joyce has admitted he isn’t too keen on.
Whereas his rival the ‘Body Snatcher’ has been in some hilarious and vicious verbal battles over the years.
And he took aim at Joyce, in an awkward and truly tough to watch exchange when Whyte began with comedy.
Whyte said: “Joe Joyce says he’s going to knock me out – we’ll see.
“Joe Joyce is very good at putting people to sleep, but not by knocking them out, because he’s so f****** boring.
“He’s the only man I know who can put coffee to sleep. Boring as f***.
“Great fighter, but he’s a boring guy. So boring.”
There was a period of silence before Joyce attempted to answer back.
He replied: “You’re bringing the jokes yeah?”
QueensberryWhyte and Joyce’s verbal battle ended extremely awkwardly[/caption]
Whyte looked simply baffled and waited for another response before Joyce added: “Anything to add?”
His rival continued to torment his lack of trash talk, asking Joyce to say something before the pair burst out laughing.
Things got awkward with the pair unable to take things to any kind of personal level, given they hold the utmost respect for each other.
Nonetheless the stakes are extremely high for the heavyweights, who are looking to revive their careers.
Joyce is on a worrying trajectory as he approaches the age of 40, having lost to Derek Chisora last time out.
Whyte has fought just three times since losing to Tyson Fury in April 2022, which includes his recent victory over Ebenezer Tetteh in a gruelling slug-fest.
And he himself believes lack of activity has stalled his career and has his eyes on a bigger and better 2025.
“I want to fight April 5 and then another two times,” he added.
“I need to be busy, because inactivity has killed my career over the last couple of years.
“Fight and then a potential fight and then it’s very hard. I’ve been walking the wilderness in my mind.
“I’ve been training to be mentally sane instead of actually training for a purpose.
“Training to get into shape is completely different to when you have a goal.”
