By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says heavyweight Dillian Whyte (16-1, 13 KOs) could be added to the June 25th undercard for the Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale card at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
Whyte, 28, is coming off shoulder surgery on his left shoulder from last December. He’ll be meeting with a doctor next week to determine whether his surgically repaired left shoulder will be ready by June 25th or not. That’s only two months away. Hearn didn’t say whether Whyte’s fight would be on the televised portion of the card on Sky Box Office PPV.
Hearn already has the super middleweight fight between George Groves and Martin Murray pegged as the co-feature bout despite the fact that both of these fighters were recently beaten in failed title fights. Hearn thinks that a fight between Groves and Murray could sellout the O2 Arena in it’s own.
That’s pretty incredible considering Groves has been whipped three times in failed title shots, and Murray has come up empty on four occasions in title shots.
Whyte was beaten by Joshua last December in a very competitive fight. Whyte fought with an injured shoulder from the 2nd round on, but he still ended up staggering Joshua. It would have been nice to see how Whyte would have done if he hadn’t suffered the injury.
“I had a meeting with Dillian Whyte in the office last week,” said Hearn to Sky Sports. “He’s in good form. It’s just a case whether his shoulder will be ready by June 25th. I think he will. He’s going to meet with the doctor and specialist to confirm next week. We’re looking at David Price on it. Callum Smith is looking to get it on. Chris Eubank Jr. will try and get on the undercard as well. Every fighter wants to be a part of the show,” said Hearn.
The idea of putting Whyte on the undercard of the Joshua vs. Breazeale fight is to slowly build a rematch between Whyte and Joshua. It’s going to need time for Whyte to properly come back from both his shoulder surgery and his loss to Joshua. But if Whyte can win enough fights, look good, and not suffer a setback by reinjuring his shoulder, then a fight between him and Joshua is definitely possible. I mean, what makes it a big deal is Whyte coming from the UK.
Believe me, there are endless numbers of contenders that Hearn could put in with Joshua that would bring in good PPV numbers on Sky Box Office and fill the O2 Arena each time out, but Whyte being British obviously helps. It makes for a bigger fight potentially because the British fans know who Whyte is frm0 his fight with Joshua, as well as his other fights.
If Whyte is given the green light to fight on the Joshua-Breazeale card, I wouldn’t expect him to be matched tough. You’re not going to see a guy coming off of major shoulder surgery fighting someone good unless his name is Manny Pacquiao. He did it earlier this month in fighting Tim Bradley after having rotator cuff surgery last year in May on his right shoulder. It’s interesting to note that Pacquiao barely used his surgically repaired right shoulder in the fight, which tells me he was brought back too soon.