Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte has snapped back at Anthony Joshua after his British rival warned he may ‘give him a punch’.

Joshua, who knocked out Whyte in the seventh round in 2015, will be ringside for his fight against Alexander Povetkin in Essex on August 22.

And AJ recently made some comments suggesting he may ‘give Whyte a punch’ after the fight if the two square up.

Having heard those remarks, Whyte has now come back with his own typically combative response.

"He might get a box, if he does that," Whyte told Sky Sports' Toe 2 Toe podcast.

"He thinks it's a game, but I don't play games with these guys. They think it's a game, scream and shout and get in each other's faces, but if he does, he will get a box."

Whyte is currently mandatory for Tyson Fury’s WBC Heavyweight Title and is scheduled to receive his shot at the belt before February 2021 providing he beats Povetkin.

However, the coronavirus pandemic is threatening to derail those plans as Fury’s trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder, which he is contractually obligated to fulfil, is continuing to be pushed back.

Fury and Wilder were expected to clash for a third time in December, but promoter Bob Arum recently said it could be moved to February next year if crowds are not allowed back into arenas in the United States before the end of 2020.

Meanwhile, Joshua is set to face Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev at the end of the year, with his promoter Eddie Hearn hinting at either the first or second week of December as a possible date.