Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte
Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte, billed as Bad Intentions, was a professional boxing match contested between Commonwealth and WBC International heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, and WBC International Silver heavyweight champion, Dillian Whyte, with the vacant British heavyweight title also on the line. The bout took place on 12 December 2015 at The O2 Arena, with Joshua winning by technical knockout in the seventh round.
Background
Joshua and Whyte first fought in 2009 as amateurs, with Whyte knocking Joshua down en route to a points decision victory. While Joshua stayed in the amateurs to win a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, Whyte turned professional in 2011, going on to compile a record of 9–0 before receiving a two-year ban after failing a drug test in 2012 for the banned substance methylhexaneamine. After the ban ended in 2014, Whyte expressed his desire for a rematch with Joshua, now 9–0, while also claiming there was animosity between the two after Joshua made disparaging comments towards Whyte in an interview.On 9 July 2015, the British Boxing Board of Control announced an agreement had been reached between the two to fight for the vacant British heavyweight boxing champions|British heavyweight title]. Following Joshua's win over Gary Cornish in September, a first-round TKO to capture the vacant List of [Commonwealth Boxing Council champions#Heavyweight|Commonwealth title], promoter Eddie Hearn revealed during the post-fight interview that the bout would take place on 12 December at The O2 Arena in London.
Joshua was ranked 2nd by the WBC, 3rd by the WBO, 7th by the IBF and 13th by the WBA, while Whyte was ranked 18th by the WBC.
The fights
Undercard
The preliminary bouts were set to feature Ted Cheeseman, Jake Ball and Martin Joseph Ward, however due to an incident in Blackwall Tunnel these bouts were cancelled. Instead the night opened at the same time as the PPV card with former 2 division world champion Paulie Malignaggi earning a wide unanimous decision victory over Antonio Moscatiello, followed by former world title challenger Derek Chisora stopping Jakov Gospic in 3 rounds.Campbell vs. Mendy
The next fight saw unbeaten Boxing at the [2012 Summer Olympics – Men's bantamweight|2012 Olympic gold medallist] Luke Campbell face former French lightweight champion Yvan Mendy. Campbell was a 20 to 1 on favourite to win.The fight
The early rounds saw Campbell shifting his punches smoothly with Mendy constantly moving forward behind a high guard. A left hook from Mendy dropped Campbell for the first time in his career as Mendy exposed holes in the Brit's defence. Campbell would fight back and take the fight the full 12 rounds where was on the losing end of a close split decision with scores of 115–112 and 115–113 for Mendy, while the third judge scored it 115–113 for Campbell.Aftermath
Speaking the fight Campbell make no excuses for his defeat saying "I feel as though I won the fight but I'm not one of the judges, I was catching him a lot to the head and body. It was a good lesson. I showed a lot in there. I'm a perfectionist and want to go back to the gym and work even harder. There are no excuses. That's the first time I've done 12 rounds in my career - I feel as though I made a few mistakes in there."Bellew vs. Masternak
The fourth bout was for the vacant List of [European Boxing Union champions#Cruiserweight|European cruiserweight title], with former British Light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew facing former champion Mateusz Masternak. Bellew earned an £80,000 purse for the bout.Bellew was a 2 to 9 favourite to win.
The fight
Bellew produced a solid performance as the fight was back and forth throughout as he ground down the tough Masternak.Bellew ultimately won by unanimous decision, with scores of 115–113, and 115–112 twice to capture the European title.
Mitchell vs. Barroso
In the following bout, two time world title challenger Kevin Mitchell faced unbeaten contender Ismael Barroso for the WBA interim lightweight title. The winner would be in line for a shot at newly crowned WBA champion Anthony Crolla.Mitchell was a 3 to 1 on favourite to win.
The fight
After two cagey rounds Barroso was able to find success with his highly aggressive southpaw style. In the fourth round Barroso landed a left-right combination, which appeared tosend Mitchell down, however the replays indicated that it may have been a slip. Nevertheless the referee ruled it a knockdown and Mitchell did not appear hurt. In the 5th round a straight right jab landed flush on the jaw of Mitchell and he was down again. He beat the count but this time he appeared badly hurt, Barroso would back him up against ropes landing punches prompting the referee to stop the fight. Immediately afterwards, Mitchell had to be given oxygen by ringside doctors.
Chief support
Eubank Jr. vs. O'Sullivan
The chief support was a WBA middleweight title eliminator between No. 2 ranked Chris Eubank Jr. and No. 5 ranked Gary O'Sullivan.The bout was originally scheduled to take place in May 2015
The pair had a history of feuds in the past, with O'Sullivan targeting Eubank on social media. Speaking at the pre fight press conference Eubank said "The guy has called me every single name under the sun but now he's gone into his shell. When we were finally in a room together, he had nothing to say. It was embarrassing and I kind of felt sorry for him, I think he realised then what he has got himself into. But he's going to pay for his words. He's a pretender and he's going to get punished."
Eubank who was a 6 to 1 on favourite to win, initially weighed in 3 ounces over the middleweight limit, but he subsequently made the weight. O'Sullivan's corner included Steve Collins had twice beaten Eubank Sr in the 1990's.