By Tim Royner: Dillian Whyte’s trainer Mark Tibbs says he wasn’t told by Dillian that he had attended a hearing on the morning of his fight with Oscar Rivas on July 20. Tibbs says he didn’t learn about any of the reports of Whyte’s adverse finding for his drug test until two days after the fight when he was on holiday in Spain.
Whyte’s trainer Tibbs maintains that Dillian didn’t cheat, and he was impressed with the way he beat Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision without having had much sleep.
Dillian defeated Rivas by a close decision to win the interim WBC heavyweight title. The fight took place at the O2 Arena in London, England. Whyte reportedly attended a hearing with an independent ant-doping agency on the morning of his fight with Rivas, and he was cleared to fight. The BBBofC also cleared Whyte to fight after the hearing.
Many fans upset that Whyte’s team didn’t inform Rivas of test results
The boxing public is upset that there was no visibility on Whyte’s reported adverse testing results. Rivas, his team and the World Boxing Council weren’t informed about Whyte’s test results. It was only after the information was leaked to a boxing website on the net that Rivas and his team learned about it. However, Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn says that hearings are confidential between the fighter, UKAD and the BBBofC.
Tibbs says he didn’t know about Whyte’s hearing
“I never knew nothing about it,” said Whyte’s trainer Mark Tibbs to IFL about Dillian’s hearing with UKAD on the morning of the fight with Rivas. “He fought a master-class performance in the way and style he beat Rivas. After I went to Spain, then I heard to news. I didn’t know none of this. Not one bit. For whatever reason, no one told me. I done the job that I do, and we done it [beat Rivas]. No one said nothing to me. No one told me. I found out after I was in Spain. It ruined my holiday.
Dillian Whyte is a proper, proper pro. Leading up to the fight, I didn’t know nothing. The board let him fight. All this talk of cheating very, very surprises me. And it surprises me how he’s performed like he performed with no sleep. We all know what it’s like when we get no sleep. I’m very, very disappointed in certain things people say and surmise before we’ve learned what’s going on. I never knew nothing after two days in Spain after the fight,” said Tibbs.
Obviously, Tibbs not knowing about Whyte’s hearing with the anti-doping agency until two days after the fight doesn’t have a bearing on the case. Some fans are already criticizing Whyte for not telling Tibbs about his hearing, because they feel he should have informed him. Tibbs doesn’t see it as an unusual situation that he wasn’t told by Whyte about his hearing to discuss his drug testing results.
Tibbs comments on WBC suspending Whyte
“The WBC aren’t big fans of Dillian Whyte, are they? I’m not surprised with that,” said Tibbs abut the World Boxing Council giving Whyte a temporary suspension while they investigate. I know what Dillian Whyte is all about, and he’s a proper human being. He ain’t no cheat. It gets me upset to talk about it, because he don’t deserve it,” said Tibbs.
The WBC’s decision to give Whyte a temporary suspension is how they deal with situations like this where that is an adverse finding from a fighter. It’s not a case of them not being fans of Whyte. The sanctioning body needs to investigate the process further, and until then, they’ve suspended Whyte’s status as the mandatory for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. However, it’s a move that doesn’t effect Whyte’s career, because he wasn’t going to get a title shot against Wilder until 2020. Wilder is fighting Luis Ortiz next in November, and then Tyson Fury in early 2020.
Hearn: Whyte isn’t suspended. He can fight on Friday
“Dillian Whyte had a hearing, and he was cleared to box to box by the British Boxing Board of Control, and the fight took place,” said Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social. “There was a procedure that was followed. Surely, he was cleared to fight. There must have been grounds for him to be cleared. He has to make sure his name is cleared, because right now his career is in tatters.
Do I believe he’s innocent? Yes, I do. Will that be shown? I believe so. Maybe I’m wrong. The VADA testing is maybe what clears his name. I keep saying, if he’s cleared, he’s been cleared for a reason. The WBC suspended him. How can you suspend a guy where the doping agency that had an issue with him cleared him? He’s NOT suspended! He can fight on Friday on this card. The WBC read a couple of articles [on the internet], and suspended him. These are the same people that made him wait 600 days to become the mandatory,” said Hearn.
Eddie Hearn is correct; Whyte can fight in the UK if he wants to right now, but he’s not going to be able to defend his interim WBC title. If that’s something that he wanted to advertise, he won’t be able to do it. The WBC didn’t suspend Whyte from fighting. They just suspended him as their interim champion, and mandatory for Wilder. Hearn sounds like he’s a little mixed up on what the WBC actually did in giving Whyte a provisional suspension. Whyte can fight whoever, but not as the interim WBC champion, and he can’t force a mandatory title shot against Wilder. Hearn can throw Whyte on his card this Friday if he wants, but it’ll look bad, and he’ll be criticized by the boxing world.
Hearn: There was nothing to tell Rivas once Whyte was cleared
“If he’s innocent, then give him the respect he deserves. Once a fighter has been cleared by UKAD and the British Boxing Board of Control there isn’t anything to tell his opponent,” said Hearn when asked if Rivas should have been told about Whyte’s adverse findings before the fight took place on July 20. “This has been dealt with legally by experts. One of the arguments is should he have known? It’s very unusual once someone has been cleared in a situation like that to go up to Oscar Rivas on the Saturday of the fight, ‘Just to let you know there was an issue with Dillian Whyte’s drug test. He’s been cleared. Good luck tonight.’ I think even if I had told the team once he was cleared by an independent panel of experts, I don’t know even if they would have told him [Rivas].
The good news with UKAD is if they find you guilty, they will ban and suspend; they do it themselves. The Board of Boxing Control follows UKAD. If UKAD clears someone, the Board clears them. The good news is UKAD can ban and suspend fighters. The bad news is it’s all confidential between the fighter and the board. Someone said Oscar Rivas failed a drug test. I don’t believe that by the way, but you wouldn’t know. VADA, good news, they report [their findings] to the group of people of the fighters. The bad news is they can’t do anything about it,” said Hearn.
VADA can’t do anything about fighters testing positive, but the State Commissions in the U.S can do something about it by not giving the fighter a boxing license. Hearn makes it sound like VADA is helpless. They’re not.
Whyte’s hearing was confidential says Hearn
“Dillian Whyte passed all the VADA testing, yet the WBC wants to suspend him,” said Hearn. If Dillian Whyte is found guilty, he’s banned in the UK. Is he banned elsewhere? Probably not. Jarrell Miller failed a drug test. He’s not even banned. I think a lot of people have agendas. It’s not like, ‘Don’t tell Oscar Rivas.’ This is confidential. There was a hearing. If he’s cleared by these experts, then he’s cleared. In hindsight, I get the argument, but at the same time you’re breaking confidentiality [if you tell Oscar Rivas about Whyte’s adverse findings]. you got a legal issue. It’s confidential between the parties. This is a process that’s followed. I didn’t wake up on Sunday morning and say, ‘I’m glad that didn’t come out.’
What came out was, he was asked to attend a hearing, and he was cleared to fight. Therefore, the [British Boxing] Board [of Control] cleared him, and the fight took place. It was the way it was reported…The other way is it would be bad news for his career [if Whyte’s B-sample tests positive and he’s found guilty of doping]. If that does happen, he’s in a terrible place,” said Hearn about Whyte.