Dillian Whyte believes losing to Anthony Joshua in 2015 was the “best thing that ever happened” to him.

The 30-year-old suffered his first loss as a professional fighter to Joshua three years ago but feels the experience helped him to take his sport more seriously.

Whyte came out on top in his most recent heavyweight clash against Joseph Parker and has set his sights on becoming world champion.

“That was the best thing to ever happen to me,” Whyte told OTB AM.

“I was a six-round puncher coming through and knocking guys out. And I was living in London at home – enjoying the life – and being one of the local hard boys.

“And then I went up against someone who was doing it properly and had the right backing and I came up short.

“And that taught me, if you want to be you say you want to be, you need to get away from London and take things seriously because this is not a joke.”

Anthony Joshua knocks down Dillian Whyte in 2015. Image:  Nick Potts/PA Archive/PA Images

Whyte also spoke about the influence of his trainer Mark Tibbs – who followed his father Jimmy into training boxers – has had on his career.

“Mark is just trying to improve what I do and try and get me slipping and rolling a lot more. And trying to get me to use my jab a lot more,” Whyte added.

“And to get me working my body with twos and threes. Like he says: ‘you got to slip, trip, rip him and rough him up’.

“He’s a great guy and a great trainer with great insight. He’s been around the big fights and his Dad has trained a lot of top fighters. And he’s helped his Dad train them up over the years.

“And he was a good little fighter himself as well.”

James Hopper