British heavyweight Dillian Whyte has criticised former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker's performance in his last outing against Anthony Joshua and believes that the battle shown from the New Zealander was “cowardly”.

Whyte and Parker will square off at the O2 arena on July 28, and the Brit has been stoking the fire with his comments in the build-up to the bout.

Anthony Joshua has beaten both men, first knocking out Whyte in seven rounds in 2015, before Parker became the first man to take him the distance in March.

Talking on The Gloves Are Off, Whyte was very dismissive of Parker's performance against AJ.

“It was cowardly. Six or seven rounds into a fight, if you’re in the home fighter’s country against a world champion and golden boy, you know you’re behind on the scorecards, there comes a time when you’ve got to go after it," he said.

“I feel that he was too much of a coward to make that decision. He had waited for that opportunity for his whole life.”

Strong words from Whyte, who he must now follow through with his own confidence and beat Parker if he stands any chance of a world title shot.

Whyte 30, has been knocking on the door for a title fight for a short while now, and with his confidence and record, there is certainly an argument to suggest he can hang with the top boys. This fight against Parker is just another chance to prove that.

Both fighters have almost identical records in the ring with Whyte boasting 23 wins, 17 KO’s and 1 defeat, whilst Parker's reads at 24 wins, 18 KO’s and 1 defeat.

The 30-year-old Brit went onto the claim that despite the fact both fighters have lost to Joshua in their careers, his defeat was very different.

“When I fought Joshua my shoulder went in the second round. My coach waned to pull me out.” Whyte continued. “I knew I still had enough power to land a one-hitter-quitter but unfortunately I got stopped. I could have done what everybody does and produced medical records after.

“That’s why I think he was a coward – he didn’t get hurt at any point in the fight. He didn’t get stung but he didn’t make the decision to go after him. Now he regrets it. To me, that’s a coward’s mindset.”

Anthony Joshua himself has had his say on the fight, claiming that Whyte will beat Parker.

“I’m going with Dillian and I’m going by knockout as well,” Joshua told Sky Sports.

“Dillian has got nothing to lose. He’s been screaming at world champions saying ‘I want to fight here, I want to fight there’ and I feel like he wants to prove himself. Parker is strong. Parker can take a shot.

“Dillian has nothing to lose, everything to gain. He’s going to go in there gun blazing and try and knock out Parker ASAP.”