By Jim Maltzman: Dillian Whyte expects to be reinstated immediately as the WBC mandatory challenger to champion Tyson Fury if he beats Alexander Povetkin in a rematch with him in 2020. Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) doesn’t want to speak on the WBC mandatory position.
However, his promoter Eddie Hearn said last week that he believes the World Boxing Council will put him immediately back in as Fury’s mandatory just as it was before.
In that case, Hearn will press the WBC to force Fury to defend against Whyte by February of next year or be stripped of his title. There will be a lot of negative feedback aimed towards Whyte, Hearn, and the WBC if he’s reinstated as the mandatory for Fury if he beats Povetkin.
Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, believes that Whyte will need to wait a year before he’s given a title shot against the WBC champ if he beats Povetkin in their rematch.
Hearn doesn’t see it that way, though, and that’s why he’s in a hurry to put the Whyte vs. Povetkin 2 fight together for November rather than waiting.
Dillian predicting he’ll be WBC mandatory again
“I would think so because I just lost to him, and I beat him again,” said Whyte to IFL TV when asked if he will be given his WBC mandatory spot back immediately if he beats Povetkin in the rematch.
“That’s what it should be what it is straightaway. I don’t know. I can’t say much about the situation, so let’s see,” said Whyte when asked if he’s been in contact with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman. “I’m training by myself right now.
“I’m serious about this fight and the rematch,” said Whyte on wanting to face Povetkin again this year. “I want it straight away. I started training today, and I’m not playing, man.
“We’re trying to set the scores straight right away. I didn’t get outboxed. I got hit with a peach of a punch. When I was boxing, it was so easy that I got a bit relaxed. I probably should have finished up in the fourth round, but you know how dangerous he is and how sharp he is.
“I know exactly what to do [against Povetkin]. So next time we go in, we put in the work. For this fight, I don’t have to change anything. I just need to stay switched on. I was winning the fight,” said Dillian.
If the WBC doesn’t reinstate Whyte immediately if he wins, he’ll have taken a big risk for nothing.
The only reason Whyte, 32, is in such a hurry to fight Povetkin this year is because he believes his WBC mandatory status will be returned to him, and things will be as they were before he fought the Russian fighter on August 22.
Whyte ready to go again
“I can dominate an Olympic gold medalist [Povetkin],” said Whyte. “If you get clocked, you get clocked. It was only one punch. I got hit by one punch, and I paid for it—just two or three minor adjustments I need to make. The rematch isn’t far away.
“When he landed it, he was shocked. It’s not like he sat on the punch. He was concussed from the knockdown earlier as well. That shows you how dangerous the guy is. He was fighting when he was in bits. It was a punch that he practices, and he’s used his whole career.
“He set it up and landed it good. I went for the hook, and he went for the uppercut. He’s the shorter fighter with the shorter arms inside, and it worked out better for him. Nothing’s changed.
“It’s not like I want a warmup fight. Let’s go. It’s a minor blip, it’s a dangerous fight, but I’m ready. I am ready to go again. I came out of the ring last Saturday, feeling like I’m ready to go again,” Whyte continued.
Dillian says his knockout was a “minor blip” for him, but it could be a lot worse. If he Whyte loses the rematch, he’ll have a difficult time convincing boxing fans that it was another “minor blip.”
If he Whyte loses a second time to Povetkin, then all the excuses from him about this and that won’t be bought into by fans.
Dillian blames himself
“I was boxing well. People were saying that I was boxing as well as they’ve seen,” said Whyte. “It was my fault. It had nothing to do with the game. Everything was good, and it was my fault. I made an amateur mistake.
“There were things that Povetkin was doing; I should have caught him earlier. Every time I hurt him, he would touch gloves. That was psychologically distracting me from what I was doing. He’s got the age and experience over me.
“I thought, ‘Let me be the sportsman and not keep up this animal l behavior and try and act cool. The experience he had against me, what is he going to use this time? Every time I touched him, his legs straightened up. When I was jabbing him and punching him, he was straightening up his legs.
“He’s definitely going to be a bit sharper this time, but so am I,” said Whyte about Povetkin. “I didn’t see anything wrong with the team and the camp.
“Everything was good. I was making Povetkin miss early with shots that he normally takes people out. He was in good shape. He landed to the body a few times, but it didn’t bother me,” Dillian said.
Povetkin wasn’t only touching gloves after Whyte hurt him. He was doing that the entire fight, even in rounds were Dillian wasn’t landing well. If Whyte is using the glove touching as a reason for why he lost, that’s a deluded way of thinking.
Whyte lost the fight because he was hit with a big shot from Povetkin. The glove-touching had nothing to do with Whyte’s inability to take that big left-hand uppercut in round five.
Whyte was expecting more from Povetkin
“I was expecting a lot more than that was there. Let’s put it that way,” said Whyte on his thoughts on Povetkin. “It was a heavyweight fight. He landed, and I landed. Hopefully, he didn’t sustain any injuries.
“I didn’t sustain any injuries. So hopefully, we can get it on. His team is up for it, and I’m up for it. Eddie [Hearn] is working on it. Hopefully, we can get something announced ASAP between now and next week.
“No, why would it happen in Russia? That’s not in the contract,” said Dillian in ruling out the rematch with Povetkin taking place in his home country of Russia. “If they hit me with the M’s [millions], I’ll go over there.
“Yeah, that’s where the fight is going to go, and that’s where the fight is going to be made [in the UK]. The real drama can go down in the UK. Russia is just another fight, but in the UK, it’s proper.
“He broke some hearts that night, and now it’s time for me to break some hearts as well and a few bones hopefully,” said Dillian.
What more was Whyte expecting from Povetkin than what he showed? He knocked him out in the 5th round. If Whyte isn’t impressed with that from Povetkin, then it would be interesting to see what he feels is an impressive effort.
The Body Snatcher won’t change anything
“I’m not changing nothing until after this fight,” Whyte continued. “It’s like I’m stuck in a time loop, and deal with it, an ‘boom.’ I’m here [in Portugal]. Straight back to work.
“The defeat has motivated me in so many different ways. It’s mad. I lost to the man that landed the punch on the night. It wasn’t that he was better than me. I need to work on some little adjustments, and then that’s it.
“Andy Ruiz is glad that he doesn’t have to fight me,” said Whyte. “Diabetes he can overcome, but he can’t overcome me. Everybody saw that I was boxing out of my skin, and I was dominating the fight. It was one of those punches.
“A little lapse in concentration can cause Everything in the heavyweight division. I could have boxed a little bit longer and made it a boring fight and thought, ‘I’ve got the world title on the line. I’ll just jab and hold,’ but what for? I came there to try and lay it on the line, and that’s what I did, and I’ll do the same thing again net time.
“Between now and next week, we should have something done,” Whyte said about his rematch with Povetkin. “Just once [watching it back]. It was exactly what I thought I did wrong; I did wrong. This is a sport; it’s not the end of the world. I’ll fight anyone. Lose, win, or draw, I don’t care,” said Dillian.
Whyte should try and change something on his defense because what did last time didn’t work. Dillian looked scared at times, and he was getting nailed by shots from Povetkin when he was being a stationary target.