By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Dillian Whyte (14-0, 11 kOs) has reportedly hired trainer Johnathon Banks to train him for his fight against Irineu Beato Costa Junior for this Saturday in their 8-round bout in Hull. Banks also trains IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, and he previously trained for years with legendary trainer Emanuel Steward.

Banks spent more time with Steward than Wladimir did, and he knows his training backwards and forwards. Whyte needed to switch trainers after his former trainer Chris Okoh was hurt in a hit and run accident. Whyte was already familiar with Banks from having sparred with Wladimir in the past, so it was a perfect solution to go to Banks as his trainer.

If Banks can turn Whyte into a future world heavyweight champion, he would have the perfect replacement for Wladimir once he walks away from the game. Whye, of course, will need to KO Anthony Joshua in their fight in November or December, and then he would have a clear path to fight for a world title.

With Wladimir almost done, Whyte could move in and take one of his three world titles. It’ll all come down to Whyte’s fight against Joshua. If he whips him again, then Whyte will have a very good chance of eventually winning one or more of the world titles when Wladimir retires in 2016 or 2017.

“Yes, Dillian Whyte has been over sparring with Wladimir Klitschko and that is how I met him,” said Banks via skysports.com. “There was a lot of things. I saw him making mistakes at, so I started working with him, started correcting them. Then later on the down the line, he called me and asked me if I could start working with him permanently. I have got no problem with that. He’s got a lot of heart, a lot of determination, and he always wants to work. So anybody like that, it’s always a pleasure for me to work with.”

It’s going to be interesting to see how well Whyte can do under Banks’ guidance. Whyte is good enough obviously to destroy Costa Junior in their fight this Saturday night, but for him to beat Joshua, he’s going to need to have all of his flaws ironed out because Joshua has improved since Whyte beat him in 2009. Mostly, Joshua has just gotten bigger and perhaps stronger since Whyte beat him.

Joshua weighed 220 when Whyte fought him, but he’s now 250. Personally, I think Joshua was a better fighter when he was lighter in the 220s than he is now, but we’ll have to see if that’s the case when Whyte faces him this year. If Whyte whips him again even easier than last time, then you have to suspect that Joshua made a colossal blunder in packing on 30 pounds of muscle in a very, very short period of time between 2013 to 2015. I’ve never seen a fighter bulk up as quickly as Joshua has in just two years. That’s just a ton of muscle to put on in a short period of time, and I don’t really see the logic in that move. I mean, Joshua doesn’t look any better. He just looks slower and more mechanical than he previously was. If Whyte can get inside Joshua’s punching range, he’s going to make it a short night because Joshua’s chin probably hasn’t gotten any better than it was previously.

“From the moment I started working with Johnathon, I knew he was the man, because for one, he’s the most experienced heavyweight trainer in the world at this moment,” said Whyte.

I can’t wait to see how much better Whyte becomes under Banks’ guidance. He really could be a future champion in a short period of time with Banks’ help.