Dillian Whyte: “I’ll knock Wladimir Klitschko out if he comes back”

By Boxing News - 01/11/2019 - Comments

Image: Dillian Whyte: "I'll knock Wladimir Klitschko out if he comes back"

By Scott Gilfoid: Dillian Whyte says he’s heard the comeback rumors of former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko coming out of retirement to face him, and he’s very interested in that fight, and feels that he’ll knockout the Ukrainian. Whyte says he’s sparred with Wladimir in the past, and that the 1996 Olympic gold medalist didn’t like getting hit to the body from him. Whyte didn’t a full account of how all their sparring sessions went, so you only have that one juicy tidbit from him.

Wladimir has had a lot of time off since his last fight against Anthony Joshua in April 2017. It’s been almost two years since Wladimir’s fight with Joshua, which he lost. Before that, Wladimir had been out of the ring for almost two years after losing to Tyson Fury in 2015. Wladimir can’t be the same fighter he once was. Of course, Wladimir probably wouldn’t need to for hum to defeat a plodder like Whyte. This is a fight that Wladimir would likely still win even if he were just 60% of his former self.

Just why the 42-year-old Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs) would want to come back to fight Whyte is the big question. It doesn’t make much sense. If the 6’6″ Wladimir is coming back, why would he want to fight a heavyweight that won’t bring in a lot of money like Whyte? Wladimir could make a lot more money facing Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua in rematches than he can fighting Whyte, who is only well known in the UK. Whyte isn’t a big star in Germany or the U.S. He’s a domestic star.

“I’ll fight Klitschko and knock him out if he comes back. He’s a great fighter, but I believe it’s my time now,” Whyte sai to Talksport.com. “I know how I need to fight him. I just believe I will take it into his kitchen and rip the sink out.”

It’s kind of odd that Whyte would bother to address a rumor that has almost no basis in reality. The rumor of Wladimir coming back to fight Whyte of all people is something from outer space. It’s just so far fetched that it’s embarrassing to even contemplate. It’s simply rediculous. If Wladimir does come, it would be to face the popular heavyweights, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder. Even Wilder likely wouldn’t get the fight, because he’s not a huge star in the U.S. The only guys that would have a good shot at a fight against Wladimir is Fury and Joshua in that order. Wladimir has unfinished business against both of them, especially Fury. Wladimir wasn’t at his best in the Fury fight, and he basically gave him the fight by not letting his hands go. Wladimir knows he can do better than that. The two were supposed to fight each other in a rematch, but suffered an injury while training, and then had all kinds of issues that tore his life apart for a two year period.

With the help of referee that blowing calls and just standing idly by not doing much, Whyte barely beat Joseph Parker last July, one of Wladimir’s old sparring partners. That version of Whyte would be easy work for Wladimir. Likewise, Whyte was losing his last fight to journeyman Dereck Chisora going into the 11th round, when he was able to stop him after the referee stepped in to take a point away from Dereck for the use of an elbow. If not for the referee, Whyte might have lost that fight too. The referee in both of Whyte’s last two fights have played a very an important part. Whyte would have likely lost both of those fights with different referees.

Wladimir lost to Fury by a 12 round unanimous decision in a close fight in November 2015 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Two years later, Wladimir came back and was beaten by Joshua by an 11th round knockout in April 2017. Wladimir gave Joshua all he could handle in that fight, and he would have gotten the ‘W’ if he had gone for the finisher after dropping him in the sixth round. Wladimir obviously regrets not going for the knockdown after he had Joshua down in the 6th round, and badly hurt and gassed out from that round until the 9th.

Here’s the likely order of fighters that the 6’6″ Wladimir would fight if he made a comeback in 2019:

1. Anthony Joshua

2. Tyson Fury

3. Deontay Wilder

4. Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller

5. Dillian Whyte

As you can see, Whyte is low on the pecking order for Wladimir when/if he does make a comeback to boxing. Wladimir isn’t going to make a comeback to fight someone that the fans have no interest in seeing him fight like Whyte. That’s not a mega-fight. That’s a stay busy fight for Wladimir.

1996 Olympic gold medalist Wladimir was considered the best heavyweight in boxing from 2004 to 2015. That’s 11 years that Wladimir was viewed as the best heavyweight in the world. In contrast, Anthony Joshua has been seen as the best heavyweight by fans for the last three years. Joshua has a long ways to go to have the same kind of longevity as Wladimir. Whyte isn’t even in the picture. He’s 30-years-old, and has never been a world champion, and there’s a good chance that he never will. Whyte’s career clock is ticking. If he doesn’t win a world title soon, he may never do it. But it’s impossible to capture a world title when you’re struggling like Whyte has been doing against the likes of Chisora and Parker. Both of those fights showed that Whyte is pretty much even with those fighters, and perhaps not quite as good either if you take away the officiating and the fouling. Wladimir was a clean fighter, and he didn’t need referees to win his fights.

Whyte would be better off focusing on more realistic fights. Wladimir is NOT going to come out of retirement to fight him for little money, and then not get credit after he beats him. Whyte should take on Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz, as a lot of boxing fans think he’s been ducking the talented Cuban. Whyte doesn’t have anyone else to fight, because Joshua appears to be heading for a match against Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller. Whyte can’t keep fighting Dereck Chisora, because it’s already redundant at this point. Whyte looked terrible in both fights, and probably would have lost them both with a good referee and quality judging. The last thing Whyte needs is to keep fighting Chisora, and continuing to look bad each time.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn could easily put a fight together between Whyte and Ortiz, Dominic Breazeale, Joe Joyce or Adam Kownacki. Those would be fun fights to watch. Can Whyte beat Ortiz and Joyce? I think a lot of boxing fans would say no to that. Whyte is there to be beaten by those types of heavyweights.