By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten British heavyweight Dillian Whyte (15-0, 12 KOs) will be fighting American heavyweight Brian Minto (41-9, 26 KOs) tonight for the vacant WBC International Silver heavyweight title on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s fight against unbeaten Gary Cornish at the O2 Arena in London, England. Joshua surprised boxing fans at the final press conference when he told Whyte “You’re lucky to be fighting on my undercard.”
Whyte thought the comment was an odd one because he felt that Joshua, 25, should understand why he’s been put on the undercard by his promoter Eddie Hearn. It goes without saying that Whyte is being put on the card because he whipped Joshua in the past.
Whyte thinks that Joshua really doesn’t want to fight him again. He says that Joshua was asking Hearn whether a fight between him and Whyte would be worth it because he wasn’t sure if it would be a big fight. Whyte thinks that was a sign that Joshua doesn’t want to fight him, because if he’s willing to fight Cornish, who Whyte sees as one step up from a tomato can, then he should be willing to fight him.
“Gary Cornish is just a little bit better than a tomato can,” Whyte said to IFL TV. “He ain’t got no power. His jab is terrible. He doesn’t put no pressure on his opponents. He’s terrible. They’re selling it to the media because of his record, but when you look at his record, he’s fought nobody in the top 100 or 200. I’ve fought a lot of tomato cans too. I’m not going to lie. But I want to stop that and fight good opponents. That’s why I’m fighting Minto and then fighting Joshua. He [Joshua] said I’m lucky to be fighting on his undercard. He should be lucky he’s not in prison for selling drugs. The stupid boy. I’m here because I did damage to him. I beat him up. It wasn’t no boxing fight. I beat him down. That’s why I’m here, and I’m here to do it again. He didn’t want this fight. When Eddie asked him about this fight he said ‘Eddie, do you think it’s a big fight? Do you think it will sell? If someone beat you and you have a chance to fight them again are you going to answer? Of course it’s a big fight. You fighting a tomato can [Cornish] is a big fight. So why ask Eddie if it’s a big fight?”
Whyte brings up a lot of good points here. Cornish has been built up to be a good opponent for Joshua because of his 21-0 record, but the opposition he’s faced has been just awful. Heck, Cornish might as well be 0-0 with his record, because he’s fought absolutely nobody. I don’t think Cornish is a tomato can, but I think he’s definitely not a good fighter in my view. Minto, 5’11”, is a much more talented guy even at 40. Minto has fought for a world title before, and he’s been highly ranked through much of his career. I rate Minto as a much better fighter than Cornish.
Whyte expects to get Minto out of there without two or three rounds tonight. He has a lot of respect for him though for what he’s achieved with his career in the past. He knows that Minto will be putting it on the line tonight when he gets inside the ring and won’t be just showing up to get a pay check when he gets inside the ring.
Whyte has been knocking everyone out quickly as of late, and it’s going to be difficult for Minto to be able to go rounds with him. During Friday’s weigh-in, Whyte weighed in at 249 pounds to Minto’s 211. That’s a huge difference in size, and Minto is going to need to try and box rather than slug like he’s frequently done in the past.
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