Dillian Whyte is 'irritated' by Deontay Wilder and still wants to settle their bitter feud with a KO win

Dillian Whyte is “irritated” by Deontay Wilder and still wants to settle their bitter feud with a knockout victory.

Whyte was repeatedly denied a WBC world title fight against Wilder, despite being the WBC’s No 1 contender for over 1000 days.

The heavyweight rivals have traded insults for years and Whyte remains eager to trade punches with Wilder, who returned with a seventh-round stoppage of Tyrrell Anthony Herndon last Friday.

“He fought someone he was meant to beat,” Whyte told Sky Sports.

“Deontay Wilder seems to be a little bit away with the fairies the last couple of years. Sometimes you can make a lot of money, your mindset can change, your lifestyle can change. It happened to me.

“Sometimes you can get a little bit away with the fairies, but he got back to winning ways and there’s a lot of big fights, so I don’t know what else to say.

“He’s still someone I’d love to fight. Still someone I believe I can beat. I can knock him out as Joseph Parker, another guy showed, bashed him up. Zhilei Zhang too.

“I don’t like Deontay Wilder. I don’t want to go on about it and irritate myself at this stage of life. I don’t enjoy irritating myself. I don’t like to get irritated by stuff that’s going to irritate me.

“I’m not going to say stuff and get into an online battle with him about whatever.

“If he has something to say then, say it to my face and we can deal with it there and then. I’m more about the physical stuff than the verbal stuff.”

Whyte is preparing for his next fight against fellow Brit Moses Itauma in Saudi Arabia on August 16.

Itauma has been touted as a future world champion after 10 knockout victories in his unbeaten 12-fight record, but Whyte believes his own attributes are being overlooked.

“A lot of people think, ‘he can’t win that, he’s not going to beat him. He’s [Itauma] too fast, he’s too this.’ I don’t think that.

“I just think, okay there’s all this stuff but what can I do. I’m also a big, strong guy. I’m also quick, I’m also more awkward than people think. I’m also better than people think.

“People might say I’m not the same wolf I was once, but I’m still a wolf. I’ve still been a part of the pack and I still understand the pack mentality and the pack mindset. Let’s get it.”

The finals of the Riviera Box Cup will be streamed live on Sky Sports on August 17