DILLIAN Whyte may have knuckled down since being floored by Anthony Joshua — but he still loves a prank.

The Brixton heavyweight fights former WBO champ Joseph Parker tonight with the winner edging closer to an AJ rematch, both having lost to the Watford superstar.

Since being knocked out in the seventh round by Joshua in 2015, Whyte has tried to shake off the bad-boy image and moved his training to Loughborough University, dramatically improving his fitness.

But mischief still surrounds the 30-year-old whose half-black, half-orange beard is the result of his brother dying his hair while he slept.

Revenge is firmly on the agenda — once Whyte has dealt with Parker.

He said: “In the past I have glued my brother’s hands and legs together while he slept and put mustard up his nose.

“So he thought it would be funny to do my beard.

"I woke up and thought it was paint, I was there trying to wash it off but nothing was happening.

"He was just laughing at me.

“Right now is too soon for revenge, you need to pick your time carefully, straight away would be too soon.”

In a turbulent life, the 6ft 4in fighter has been stabbed and shot — but the only thing he fears is mum Jane who raised 12 children and coped with Whyte at his most wild.

He said: “I was scared of my mum but not out of fear, out of respect. Whatever I was doing, all the stuff I’ve been through, I didn’t want mum to find out because of fear of disappointing her.

“I was always the bad boy but, when it comes to my mum, guys would wind me up about her and I’d just start smacking people up.

"In my whole life I’ve only sworn twice in front of my mum. What she thinks about me is all that matters.

“My mum is happy with me, even without being a world champion, she’s happy I’ve turned my life around, I’m alive and doing something positive.”

When Whyte was just two years old his mum left him in Jamaica to move to England with his older siblings to make a better life for the family.

He had to wait 11 painful years to be reunited with her but she is always on hand now and will tend to her son’s face if Parker lands either of his heavy hands at London’s O2.

He added: “She comes from hard-working stock, she’ll work until she can’t work any more.

“She’s a nurse and likes helping people. I got the flu badly last year and couldn’t get up.

"She’s old now and I weigh like 18 stone but she was still trying to pick me up.

“In the end she just had to sit down and I rolled over and got up myself.

“But I don’t think I could have her in my corner doing my cuts — she’d probably throw her shoes at my opponent if I got a cut.”