By Charles Brun: Trainer Kevin Barry says former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. would demolish Dillian Whyte if those two fought each other. Barry, who trains former WBO champion Joseph Parker, believes that it would be a bad idea for Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) to face Ruiz Jr. because he thinks he would knock him out.
Whyte, 31, has too much to lose in facing Ruiz right now. Dillian is already taking a risk in facing 40-year-old former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin next.
Dillian doesn’t need to take another dangerous fight by agreeing to face Whyte before he gets his mandated title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in 2021.
Recently, Whyte bragged about Ruiz being given a $5 million offer by his promoter for a fight against him. Ruiz said that the proposal was for $4 million, not $5 million. Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that it was a $4 million offer that Ruiz was given.
Andy Ruiz destroys Dillian Whyte
“I tell you what, and I’ve had this conversation with Joe, and I’ve had it with my son Taylor, and I might be completely wrong,” said Barry to Boxing Social. But my gut feeling in this fight in looking at Dillian Whyte saying, ‘We offered you $5 million.’ ‘No, you only offered me $4 million.’ ‘Well, we’re going to offer you $5 million.’
“I would think that would be the last fight that Dillian Whyte would want. And I pick Andy Ruiz to knock Dillan Whyte out. I think Andy is too skilled, hits too hard and I pick Andy to demolish Dillian Whyte absolutely, and I think that would be one of the last styles that he would want to be in the ring with at this time,” said Barry.
“Andy just signed with Eddy Reynoso, which is a fantastic fit for Andy,” said Barry. “That’s a smart decision for him. I already talked about Kownacki, Arreola, and all the PBC fighters.
“As much as that would be a good fight, Andy has said, ‘I want to fight Joseph Parker because I want to beat him up.’ I think it’ll be a while before that fight happens,” said Barry.
There’s a very good chance that Ruiz Jr. (33-2, 22 KOs) would beat Whyte if that fight happened now. It’s not going to, though. Whyte is facing Alexander Povetkin next, and after that, he’ll be waiting for a title shot against WBC champion Tyson Fury. Whyte isn’t going to risk his WBC mandatory spot by facing Riz because he’s too dangerous.
Dillian deserves a title shot
“We know that Anthony Joshua has his hands full at the moment,” said Barry. “He’s got a fight coming up against [Kubrat] Pulev, and he’s got a fight with Tyson Fury sometime next year. So for us [Parker] to even think of sharing the ring with them, Joe would need some serious performances to warrant that.
“Dillian Whyte, if there’s anyone that deserves a world title shot, it’s him. His team must be very frustrated that they’re never going to get a chance to fight for the strap. On the flip side, he says, ‘No one wants to fight me, and that they’re going to pull out,'” said Barry.
Whyte deserves a title shot against WBC champion Tyson Fury, and he’s going to get one in 2021. But it’s not as if Whyte earned a crack at the WBC title earlier. A lot of boxing fans confuse a #1 ranking with that of a mandatory challenger.
Just because a fighter is ranked #1 with a sanctioning body, it doesn’t mean that they’re mandatory. To become a mandatory challenger, you have to fight in an eliminator bout ordered by the sanctioning body. Whyte didn’t agree to fight in the WBC ordered eliminator when they ordered him to face Luis Ortiz in 2018.
So instead of Whyte getting a title shot back then, he had to wait until he was given another shot to fight in an eliminator against Oscar Rivas in 2019. Whyte accepted the Rivas fight, and he beat him to earn the WBC mandatory spot. After that win, Rivas deserves a titles shot, but NOT before that. He didn’t rate a title shot just based on him being ranked #1 with the WBC.
Parker wants a rematch with Whyte
“So there’s been a nice bit of banter between Joe and him for some time,” said Barry. “We’ve [Parker] made no secret of the fact that a lot of things didn’t go our way in the Dillian Whyte fight, and we would love the opportunity to rectify that and fix it. It was an exciting fight.
“It was an interesting fight that had a good following, good support, and pay-per-view buys.
“We would love to fight Dillian Whyte, anywhere, anytime. I’m also well aware of his [Whyte] position with the WBC [as mandatory]. He’s like everyone else. He’s in line, waiting for an opportunity in early 2021 to finally fight for the belts.
“It’s now looking like the fight between Wilder and Fury won’t happen until 2021. Dillian Whyte will be one of those guys who might be one of the losers throughout this,” said Barry.
Parker (27-2, 21 KOs) got a raw deal in his 12 round decision loss to Whyte in 2018 in London, England. Whyte roughed Parker up and got credit for a head-butt knockdown in round two.
That’s a fight that Parker likely would have won had it taken place at a neutral venue and with a referee that was on the ball. It was almost like there was no referee at all on the night.
Whyte must be in good shape for Povetkin
“I think it’s a good fight for Dillian Whyte, but it would have to be a better Dillian Whyte than the guy we saw fight Mariusz Wach because that guy was overweight, and he was slow and off-balance,” said Barry.
“A fighter like Povetkin, even though he’s in the twilight of his career, this is an experienced guy. He’s always in shape. Every time I see him in the ring, he looks the same, just a little older.
“I think it’s the perfect fight for Dillian Whyte, but a fight that he must come in shape,” said Barry.
Whyte came into the Mariusz Wach match at a hefty 271 pounds on December 7 in Saudi, and he made that contest a lot harder than it should have been. There’s no question that Whyte did enough to deserve a 10 round decision, but he got hit an awful lot.
The 6’7 1/2″ Wach arguably dished out more punishment than Anthony Joshua did in Whytes knockout loss to him in 2015. If Whyte isn’t in good shape for the Povetkin fight, there’s a good chance that he’ll lose. Whyte will be the favorite over the 40-year-old Povetkin, but that doesn’t mean he’ll win. As we’ve seen in the last four years, Whyte’s talent level is around that of Dereck Chisora.
Whyte is a tiny bit better than Chisora. Povetkin would likely beat Chisora right now and do it impressively. Does that men Povetkin would defeat Whyte? Not necessarily, but he’ll give a lot to think about for the entire clash, and it won’t be surprising if he does defeat him.
