Dillian Whyte has dubbed Anthony Joshua 'a good boy' after he took a stylish step towards their winter showdown with Saturday's first-round knockout victory over Irineu Beato Costa Jr.
Whyte moved to 15-0-KO12 with an emphatic performance in Hull as he twice felled the giant Brazilian to win inside two minutes and he now turns his attentions to September 12, when he will appear on the undercard of Joshua's Commonwealth title fight with Gary Cornish.
Brixton's Whyte and Watford's Joshua have traded insults on social media in recent months and the Olympic champion will get his chance to avenge an amateur defeat when the pair finally meet in the ring later this year - but Whyte has dismissed the notion Joshua is 'a bad man trying to be good.'
The 27-year-old told Sky Sports: "I am not a bad man anyway but if people say Anthony Joshua is a bad man with a ruthless side to him, I am saying he is no bad man. He is a good boy. He is a good boxer but he is a good boy.
We have both had the same amount of fights and knocked out whoever's in front of us but he has been made out to be a great hope and a great role model. With social media and TV, you can build anything.
"I have had ups and downs and been on small shows, selling tickets and building my fan base from the ground up but now people are starting to see that Anthony Joshua is not the only heavyweight prospect. There are others out there who are big and strong and aiming to get to the top of the tree.
"I'm sure he would have watched but he would not have gained much information from my fight. It only lasted two minutes so you could not really see holes."
Whyte admits he needs sterner tests than Costa Jr and has held talks with promoter Eddie Hearn about possible opponents for September 12.
But the Londoner fears he will miss out on a fight against European champion Erkan Teper, who dramatically knocked out David Price to win the belt last month.
"We had a phone call this morning, but still no opponent yet," he said. "There are still a couple of names that we are going through. Hopefully we will have something sorted in the next week or so.
"They are guys like Johann Duhaupas and Edmund Gerber, and a few other guys. That sort of level of opposition.
"Erkan Teper is in the mix as well, but I doubt he will fight though seeing as he just won the belt. That is probably his last fight for this year maybe, so we will see what happens."
Looking ahead to encountering Joshua at upcoming press conferences, Whyte said: "I don't plan these things. It all depends on what he does. If he tries to give me attitude.
"'Violent' is a strong word to use. I'm respectful of everybody. I am a respectful fellow but if he tries to act like this so-called hard man people say he is, I will respond accordingly to what he does and says."
Whyte was economical and accurate in his work at the KC Lightstream Stadium and afterwards credited the influence of new trainer Johnathon Banks, who also trains heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko.
He is scheduled to travel with Banks to train at the legendary Kronk gym in Detroit later this month.
"Johnathon trains possibly one of the greatest heavyweight champions of the last 20 or 30 years," he said.
"Wladimir is a perfectionist and with one phone call could have been praised by anyone so if he chooses Johnathon, why shouldn't he be beneficial to me?"
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