By Matt Lieberman: Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte will be putting his Interim WBC heavyweight title on the line against the talented 2004 Olympic gold medalist Alexander Povetkin this Saturday night on August 22 at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex, UK.
American boxing fans will able to see Whyte-Povetkin this Saturday night on DAZN, as the streaming giant has reportedly made a deal to broadcast this thrilling match-up in the U.S.
For U.K. viewers, Whyte vs. Povetkin will be shown on Sky Box Office pay-per-view this Saturday or those who have the money and the desire to see what should be an exciting slug-fest from start to finish.
Whyte (27-1, 18 K.O.s) and Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 K.O.s) will also be fighting for the vacant World Boxing Council Diamond Heavyweight title, which was recently added by the WCB for the two fighters to battle for on Saturday.
What’s more important than the interim WBC and Diamond titles is the 32-year-old Dillian’s mandatory status with the sanctioning body.
Whyte risking his WBC mandatory position
Whyte earned the WBC mandatory position last year in defeating previously unbeaten Oscar ‘Kaboom’ Rivas (26-1, 18 K.O.s) by a 12 round unanimous decision on July 20 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
It was an impressive performance by ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte, who had to get up off the deck in round nine to come back to beat Rivas by the scores 115-112, 115-112, and 116-111.
Whyte had to grit it out and use his toughest to beat a fighter that was arguably more talented than himself, but not as fierce or as powerful.
The winner of Saturday’s Whyte-Povetkin match will hold the WBC mandatory spot and will be guaranteed a title shot for that belt in 2021, be it against the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III trilogy match or for the vacant WBC title.
The winner of the Fury-Wilder 3 match may elect to vacate the WBC heavyweight title or have it stripped from them rather than risk losing to Whyte.
Fury (30-0-1, 21 K.O.s) isn’t afraid of Whyte. Still, he and his promoters prefer that he take the more significant contest against Anthony Joshua in early 2021 rather than have to jump through another hoop in batting Dillian.
It’s admirable on Whyte’s part for him to risk his mandated WBC title shot against former WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin. Rather than take a soft fight and then wait for the dust to clear from the Fury vs. Wilder III match, Whyte is taking a risky bout.
Bellew says Whyte “too big” for Povetkin
“I believe Dillian Whyte is a much-improved fighter these last few years,” said Bellew to Fighthub. “Since his loss to A.J., he’s bounced back and defeated many good fighters, former world champion, former European champions, and he’s been exemplary since that defeat.
“So I think this is a great test against Povetkin, but I also believe Povetkin is not the same fighter he was in 2017 and 2018. He’s a lot more vulnerable now, and I believe Dillian Whyte will see him off and probably get rid of him inside eight rounds,” said Bellew.
Tony is giving Povetkin more credit than he deserves by saying he’s not the same fighter he was in 2017 and 2018. The truth is Povetkin isn’t the same fighter he was in 2016, which is the last time he looked exceptional in one of his fights.
If you could bottle that version of Povetkin and release him against Whyte on Saturday, Dillian would be in serious trouble against a fighter like that.
“He’s too big and too strong, and he’s on the cusp of something really big. I do believe that, said Bellew about Whyte.
In Povetkin’s last impressive performance, he defeated former world title challenger Johann Duhaupas by a sixth-round knockout on December 17, 2016, in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
That fight was the last time that Povetkin looked out of this world outstanding. The way that Povetkin dismantled the Frenchman Duhaupas was beyond belief, as he wiped him out with a series of left hooks in the sixth round.
Povetkin can still punch
The excellent news for Whyte and his loyal boxing fans is Povetkin has looked almost pedestrian in his last six performances since the Duhaupas contest.
Povetkin seemed to age after the Duhaupas match, but he’s still won four out of his last six fights. Joshua beat Povetkin by a seventh-round knockout on September 22, 2018, in front of a jam-packed Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Povetkin came back from that loss to defeat Hughie Fury by a 12 round unanimous decision on August 31, 2019, at the O2 Arena in London. It was a decent performance by Povetkin, but not the type we’d seen from him earlier in his career when he was still in his prime and dangerous.
Alexander’s punching power is just as good as always right now, but he doesn’t put his shots together in the same furious way that he used to.
Or Povetkin to beat Whyte, he’ll need to attack him in a sustained manner the way that Joshua did in his 7th round knockout win on December 12, 2015.
Joseph Parker had Whyte close to being knocked out in the 12th round of their fight on July 28, 2018. Trailing in the contest, Parker attacked Whyte with a blizzard of punches in the 12th and succeeded in knocking him down. Unfortunately for Parker, he ran out of time and wasn’t able to finish the job against Dillian.
Alexander will be at his best
The ‘Body Snatcher’ Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn likely has warned him about what he’s risking in taking on Povetkin. Povetkin isn’t a sure-thing win for Whyte, seeing that Povetkin is one of the top heavyweights in the division, and he has an excellent amateur pedigree.
With so much on the line for this fight, Povetkin will be near the best version of himself. When Povetkin steps inside the ring with Whyte on Saturday night, he may turn back the clock. If Bellew and Whyte are assuming that Povetkin is washed up at 40, and no longer a threat, they could be making a tremendous miscalculation.
Povetkin knows that he can’t afford to lose to Whyte if he wants to get a lucrative payday match against WBC champion ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury or possibly ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder. Beating Whyte will put Povetkin in against one of those giant heavyweights.
But even if the winner of the Fury vs. Wilder 3 contest chooses to vacate the WBC title, Povetkin would still be able to fight for the strap against the next highest ranked contender in the WBC’s rankings.
There’s also a chance that the WBC could elevate the Whyte vs. Povetkin winner to the new WBC champion if the title is vacated by Fury or Wilder after their trilogy match in December.
Whyte is already the interim WBC champion, so the president of the sanctioning body Mauricio Sulaiman could elevate the winner of Whyte-Povetkin to the new WBC champion if the belt is vacated by Fury or Deontay.
Whyte wants to fight the best
“When you [Anthony Joshua] lost to Andy Ruiz Jr, I really respected the guy. He’s still a British fighter,” said Whyte to London Real. “And then after the fight, he started talking a lot of crap and talking like he’s a bad man and stuff and saying all of these things and stuff.
“Come on, man. And then they lied about making a fight with me in July. We’re both Matchroom fighters. You don’t have to try and make a fight with me. The match is easy to make. Let’s be realistic. Everyone knows I don’t hide from no one.
“Why would I turn down an offer to fight Anthony Joshua if there’s an offer there? People need to think about it. There was never a real offer. They wanted him to fight Jarrell Miller in America.
“That was the plan because DAZN needed to recoup some of that money that they’re paying him, and they tried to make me a scapegoat. They tried to make me look bad, so I said, ‘I’m having enough of this.’ I want to go. I already said, I’ll fight him in a winner takes all, you know? That’s what I do. He’s Anthony Joshua, the great winner. I’m just Dillian Whyte, the average guy. Let’s fight the winner takes all.
“I want to fight against the best and beat the best,” Whyte continued. “When it’s all been said and done, time waits for no one. We’re all getting on. Strange things happen in the world every day. I want to fight the best.
When I get old, I want to sit down and say, ‘I fought him, I fought him, and I fought him.’ A lot of these guys, when they retire, it’s like, ‘Oh, Roy Jones didn’t fight Joe Calzaghe until he was such and such. Joe Calzaghe didn’t fight Carl Froch. Bernard Hopkins didn’t.’
“I don’t want to be like that. I want to be the one that fought everyone while we were still good fighters and good contenders still in our prime, you know?” said Whyte.