It would appear Dillian Whyte and Deontay Wilder won’t be sharing a roast this holiday season. 

While Whyte is looking to reassert himself as a heavyweight contender once again when he faces off against Jermaine Franklin on Saturday, the British boxer is going out of his way to pick a fight with nemesis Deontay Wilder.

When Wilder was the WBC heavyweight champion of the world until 2020, Whyte was his mandatory challenger at the time, but he never got a crack at the crown.

“The Body Snatcher” Whyte (28-3, 19 KOs) is apparently still seething at the fact. 

“This guy is an actor,” Whyte told Sportsmail. “Everything he does is an act. Even fake crying at [the press conference after he knocked out Robert Helanius]. I was just like, ‘you just make me sick, you piece of sh!t.’ I heard that Wilder still doesn’t want to fight me. He is the biggest fraud in all of sport – never mind boxing. Who doesn’t fight his No. 1 contender for four years and then claims he’s the greatest of all time? He hasn’t actually beaten anyone of note yet. He is just a cowardly con man.”

Whyte’s braggadocio and confidence are still operating at peak levels even after suffering a knockout loss in his most recent bout against current WBC champion and two-time Wilder conqueror Tyson Fury. 

The 35-year-old Jamaican-born, Brixton native has experienced a seesaw ride to his career in recent years marked by a stunning knockout loss to Alexander Povetkin and a KO of his own against the Russian. 

Whyte will have another tough test in front of him come Saturday night by way of Franklin, an undefeated American heavyweight contender. 

The winner of the bout appears to be the frontrunner to land a fight with Anthony Joshua next year. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.