By Charles Brun: David Haye says he feels terrible for Dillian Whyte that he won’t be getting a title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury or IBF/WBA/WBO champ Anthony Joshua anytime soon.
The fans boxing world wants to see the unification clash between Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) and Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) in early 2021, and Whyte is going to be pushed to the side.
Haye believes that the World Boxing Council could placate Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) by upgrading his Silver heavyweight title to a Gold or Platinum one if he beats Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) in his next bout.
In all probability, Joshua and Fury will be battling it out in the first quarter of 2021. After they fight a rematch, the winner will defend against WBO mandatory Oleksandr Usyk. That fight could happen late 2021 or in the first part of 2022.
As for Whyte, 32, he’ll most likely get his chance to fight for the WBC belt in 2022. The global pandemic will play a part in Whyte’s mandated WBC title shot getting pushed back a year from 2021 to 2022. It won’t be the end of the world if Whyte loses another year of his career, waiting for a chance to fight for the belt.
Whyte should have agreed to fight Luis Ortiz in a WBC ordered eliminator when they first ordered it in 2018. Had Whyte taken that fight in 2018, he would have had his title shot in 2019. Instead, Whyte went for the money fight against Dereck Chisora.
Whyte could upset the applecart
“Certain fighters get avoided because champions want to fight another voluntary as opposed to you,” said Haye to Behind The Gloves. “I remember Winky Wright got avoided for years, and so did Marvin Hagler forever. Riddick Bowe avoided Lennox Lewis.
“He [Whyte] should take it as a compliment that he’s the fighter out there [being avoided]. He’s got one blemish on his record [against Joshua]. He had a fantastic run of victories. Not boring wins, but good entertaining fights.
“Even his fight with Chisora, he was losing, but he did what champions do by finding a way to win. In the 11th round, he found that Hail Mary left hook. He’s done everything asked of him, and he would be a good champion because he’s willing to fight the best,” Haye said of Whyte.
“The fact that he accepted to fight Alexander Povetkin shows [that he’s willing to take risks in fighting the best]. He could have chosen an easier fight. He’s always ready to fight the best possible opposition.
“That’s rare in boxing to have a fighter willing to mix it up with anybody. He deserves a shot, but unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon,” said Haye.
People want to see Fury face Deontay Wilder when the sport resumes, and then they’re anxious to see the winner of that match face IBF/WBA/WBO champion, Anthony Joshua.
The worst thing that could happen in boxing is for Whyte to get in the way of the Joshua-Fury fight by insisting that he face Fury in early 2021.
Whyte is expected to try and make that move, but it’s anticipated that the World Boxing Council will let Fury face Joshua for the undisputed championship. Whyte will be then told that he can fight the winner of the Joshua-Fury fight unless there’s a rematch.
Fans won’t feel sorry for Dillian
“We got the rematch with Wilder and Fury, so where does that leave him?” said Haye of Whyte. “When does that fight get scheduled? We think we’re a little bit away from having 15,000 people in Las Vegas.
“The bad thing about it is with Dillian Whyte; there won’t be too many violins because the people just want to see the two champions fight. They don’t want him to get in the way of it because he may upset the applecart, and then that changes everything. We’ve seen that happen many times.
“The fight that Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren both want is the biggest fight in the history of boxing. It’s Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. That’s the fight they want. Are they going to risk a dangerous fight, a mandatory challenger [Whyte]?
“He’s shown everything there is to show that he can cause an upset. You saw the way Andy Ruiz caused an upset [against Joshua]. Dillian Whyte can cause an upset. When he’s in shape and motivated, he can cause a problem. He’s taking everything 100% seriously now.
“He has everything in place to take him to the next level. He just needs the opportunity, and I just don’t think people are going to care that he [Whyte] gets pushed to the side. I care.
“As much as you care, you’re not going to lose any sleep seeing AJ and Tyson Fury fight. ‘It’s too bad for him [Whyte], but I’m just going to get my ringside seat.’ That’s a terrible thing.’
“He’s going to tell everybody, ‘I deserve my shot,’ and people that know about boxing are like, ‘We agree, it’s terrible, it’s disgusting, and you deserved your shot.’ But I’m happy it’s [Fury vs. Joshua] is happening,” said Haye on Whyte.
Whyte won’t get step aside money
“I genuinely really do feel for Dillian because he deserves it,” said Haye. “He’s a great ambassador for the sport, he’s entertaining, and even in his interviews, he’s hilarious.
“He’s a good guy for boxing, and a great character that boxing needs. I want him to get his shot, I do. He’s not a step aside kind of guy. Do think he’s going to say, ‘Give me money.’
“It’s not about money. What’s the money going to do? Where are you going to spend it now? You’re going to go to your house. I’m not sure he [Whyte] gets step aside money if it’s a unification fight, even if you’re mandatory. The unification fight supersedes the mandatory.
“That’s what I was always led to believe. They may give him [Whyte] a super-duper WBC title. What does he have a Silver one at the moment? They may give him a Gold one or a Platinum one. It gets to the point where there are so many belts. It’s just who’s #1. In boxing,
“it’s down to opinions, and opinions can be influenced; opinions can be argued, and they can be manipulated. That’s what makes boxing frustrating. It’s also what makes it great as well. It’s unfair. Sometimes to get to that number one position, you have to risk losing financially.
“There could be more lucrative fights out there. Maybe you might have to take a fight for less money. Eventually, the fights that matter happen,” said Haye.
It’s unfortunate for Whyte that he’s just now become the WBC mandatory challenger, as there’s a backlog of massive fights boxing fans want to see. It doesn’t matter that Whyte is mandatory to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
