Whyte and Joyce to clash in April

Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte is set to face Joe Joyce in a heavyweight showdown on April 5 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester. This marks Whyte’s return to the UK boxing scene for the first time since 2022. 

Whyte (31-3), a former world title challenger, has faced top names like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, and is a familiar name in the division. Joyce is an Olympic silver medalist and former WBO interim titleholder with 15 KOs to his name, and he’s looking to use this fight as a means to rebound after recent losses. 

Both fighters are looking to get back on track. Whyte’s career faced a setback when a rematch with Joshua was cancelled in 2023 due to an adverse finding in a drug test. An investigation later attributed it to a contaminated supplement, clearing the way for his return. Joyce is also hoping to regain momentum after suffering three defeats in his last four fights.

For Whyte, the fight is an opportunity to re-position himself as a one of the top-ranked men in the heavyweight division and potentially set up future fights against other top contenders. Joyce needs a victory to reignite his career and prove he can still compete at the highest level. 

The undercard will feature another heavyweight match between Lawrence Okolie and Richard Riakporhe. Okolie, a former WBO cruiserweight champion who also held the WBC bridgeweight belt, is moving up to heavyweight to face Riakporhe. Riakporhe, also a former world-title challenger, has a long-standing rivalry with Okolie. 

The event is the first of three Queensberry Promotions shows announced recently by Frank Warren, who also took time to stress just how big of a role heavyweights will play in the upcoming events from the outfit: “we are starting as we mean to go on and, as you might expect, the heavyweights will play a big, big part in 2025 and beyond.”