By Tim Royner: Dillian Whyte (24-1, 17 KOs) isn’t satisfied with his 12 round unanimous decision win over Joseph Parker (24-1, 18 KOs) from tonight, and he wants to fight once more in November or December before the end of the year and then face heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a rematch on April 13 at Wembley Stadium in London, UK.
Whyte doesn’t like that he was knocked down in the 12th round by Parker, and beaten pretty much through most of the fight. Whyte used roughhouse tactics to get the better of Parker. Some of the things Whyte was doing should have resulted in him losing points, but the referee Ian John Lewis took hands off approach to the fight, letting Whyte fight as he pleased.
Whyte’s idea of getting one more victory in before facing Joshua in a rematch might not work for him, because he’s going to need a guaranteed big name opponent picked out well ahead of the April 13 fight, because it’s important that he can start marketing the fight. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn can’t wait for Whyte to take a fight in November or December. For one, Whyte would need to beat a highly rated contender for him to impress the boxing fans enough for a fight between him and Joshua to be worthwhile for fans to purchase on Sky Box Office on April 13. If Whyte decides to go back to fighting journeyman opposition like he’s done through most of his career, he’s not going to get the peole interested in seeing him as the opponent for Joshua next April.
“I’d like to fight Joshua in a rematch but there are things I’ve got to work on. If he wants it, he can have it. I’m the Can Man!” Whyte said to skysports.com. “We’ll be ready but we would like one more before that, I might get out again in November or December. I don’t want to go into a fight waiting so long.”
Whyte can take a tune-up in November or December, but unless he faces someone good, he’s not going to learn much from the fight and improve enough for him to beat Joshua next April. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn is better off paying Wilder what he wants for him to agree to the unification fight against Joshua.
You can understand why Whyte wants to gain a little more experience before he faces Joshua again. The way that Whyte looked tonight against Parker, he would have little chance of beating Joshua. Whyte was sluggish, slow and easy to hit by Parker. Whyte did have a great jab that he used throughout the fight that gave him problems.
In some ways, Whyte did a better job beating Parker than Joshua did in his 12 round unanimous decision win over the New Zealander last March in Cardiff, Wales.
Whyte’s only competition for the Joshua fight on April 13 is WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, who has the edge over him after the way Whyte fought tonight against Parker. Whyte had to get up off the deck in the 12th round to get the victory. Whyte was badly hurt by the knockdown.
“I am still so inexperienced, I make a lot of mistakes. I’ve still got a lot to learn, let’s see what Eddie (Hearn) can throw my way. I’ve improved [since losing to Joshua], there’s still another 40 per cent to come,” Whyte said.
The reason why Whyte didn’t look good tonight wasn’t because of inexperience. It was due to him facing a guy with better talent, hand speed, mobility and overall ability in Parker. Whyte was slow, heavy and throwing a lot of wide shots that made him vulnerable to Parker’s punches.
