By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury says it’s way too soon for heavyweight Dillian Whyte to return to the ring to face his conqueror Alexander Povetkin on November 21. Fury feels that Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) hasn’t had an adequate amount of time to rest and recover from his devastating 5th round knockout on Agust 22nd at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex.
Whyte is taking the November 21st rematch with former WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs) after just three months of rest from his previous match against the powerful Russian. That’s not enough time for Dillian to recover from his knockout, according to Fury.
Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn is gambling by letting Whyte take the rematch with Povetkin so soon. If it pays off with Whyte trouncing the aging Russian fighter, then Hearn will come out of this looking like another Einstein. But it’s such a crazy gamble, and there’s a lot to lose for Whyte if he gets sparked out again by Povetkin.
It’s not just the fight that Whyte could lose. It could be a dumpster fire if Dillian continues to get knocked out for the remainder of his career, as he’d be another Roy Jones Jr in that respect.
Hearn counting on the WBC ordering Fury to face Whyte in early 2021
Whyte was knocked unconscious by a left uppercut from the 41-year-old Povetkin he 5th round on the night, and looked severely hurt. Hearn is hoping that by staging the Whyte-Povetkin II rematch before Fury’s trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder, the World Boxing Council will order the winner of that fight to face Dillian in early 2021.
The WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman is unlikely to accommodate Hearn’s wish of ordering the Fury vs. Wilder 3 winner to face Whyte in early next year, but that’s what Eddie is still hoping will happen. Hence, we’re seeing Whyte rushing headlong into a quick rematch with Povetkin, which has no hope of resulting in Dillian getting a title shot by February 2021.
If Whyte beats Povetkin, he will be reinstalled as the WBC mandatory challenger for Fury, but he’ll need to wait until 2022 to get a title shot. Fury will be busy next year facing IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua twice.
Knowing how the WBC sometimes makes strange rulings, you can’t dismiss the remote possibility that Fury will be ordered to face Dillian by February of 2021 if Whyte beats Povetkin on November 21. With the pressure that Hearn will be putting on the WBC if Whyte beats Povetkin, the sanctioning body may cave in and give Eddie what he’s asking for by ordering the Fury-Whyte contest.
The end game for all of this is Whyte, potentially beating Fury, which would protect the golden goose, Anthony Joshua. That appears to be Hearn’s overriding motive for pushing so hard to have Whyte challenge Fury in early 2021. If Whyte wins that fight, then Hearn no longer has to worry about Fury stopping the golden goose Joshua from laying those 24K eggs by the truckload.
Fury: Whyte needs time to recover
“From what I was watching, Dillian Whyte didn’t do anything wrong,” said Fury to IFL TV about Dillian’s loss to Alexander Povetkin. “He just got caught, and that was it. You can’t.
“How can you train for anything like that,” Fury said when asked how can Whyte train for his rematch with Povetkin on November 21.
“It’s boxing; you’re going to get hit. It’s like going in the shower and not getting wet. How can you guarantee that you’re not going to get caught with any punches?
In my personal opinion, not that anyone would listen to me, it’s too soon for a rematch after being knocked unconscious, knocked spark out. To take a damaging fight, I don’t think there’s enough time to recover,” Fury said.
‘The Gypsy King’ Fury brings up a good point about the 32-year-old Dillian needing time to recover from what he just went through with his fifth-round knockout. For a knockout of that type, it’s incredibly risky for Whyte to be back inside the ring in three months facing a puncher like Povetkin.
Surprisingly, the British Boxing Board of Control isn’t standing in the way of ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte from taking the quick rematch with Povetkin. It doesn’t make sense for the BBBofC not to be stepping in to block the fight so that Dillian will have more time to rest.
Fury took a rest after the first Wilder fight
“I think you’re more susceptible to getting knocked out after you’ve just been knocked out four or five weeks earlier,” continued Fury about Whyte. “That’s not long enough [3 months from the point where Whyte was knocked out on August 22 to his rematch with Povetkin on November 21].
“No, I wouldn’t because I would think, ‘I got knocked dead as a nail,'” said Fury when asked if he would rush into a rematch with a fighter if he were knocked out like Whyte. “I was knocked dead as a nail [against Wilder], and probably worse than that, but I got back up and finished the fight and won the fight.
“I didn’t get it, but I had six months out and came back, and I was fine. But if I had boxed two or three months later, then maybe I wouldn’t be fine. My mentality is health first, boxing second. I had seven months out [before the Otto Wallin fight]. In between then, I didn’t have any sparring to the head,” said Fury.
Deontay Wilder’s knockout of Fury in the 12th round in 2018 looked far worse than Whyte’s knockout by Povetkin last August. The difference was, the referee that worked the Fury-Wilder I fight, Jack Reiss, was willing to give a count while Fury was unconscious.
In contrast, referee Mark Lyson, the guy that worked the Whyte-Povetkin fight, halted the match immediately after Dillian was dropped.
You can argue that if Reiss had been the one working the Whyte vs. Povetkin fight, he would have given a full ten count after Dillian was dropped. I mean, it would have looked silly, given how hurt Whyte was, but that’s probably what would have happened.
Whyte needs to recover
“So yeah, I’m all about safety first. If Whyte gets caught again like that and gets knocked out again, that’s how brain injuries occur,” Fury said. “But then again, it’s up t them. I’m sure they’ll get passed medically. If there are any problems, his brain will show it.
“Realistically, he should rest,” said Fury’s trainer Sugarhill Steward, giving his advice to Whyte. “He’s had an injury to the brain. It needs to heal Some fighters that jump back into the ring too soon; they’ll never be the same again.
“The brain is very delicate. For that fight, Dillian Whyte-Povetkin, that was a big knockout. To go back into a rematch so soon [is a bad idea]. The brain needs to heal. Physically, he’s ready to fight again, but the brain is that controls the body. Somebody should step up and say it’s ‘too soon,'” said Sugarhill.
Many boxing fans will second-guess Hearn and Matchroom if Whyte is knocked out again by Povetkin on November 21. It’s utterly predictable that there will be a tremendous backlash against Hearn if Povetkin similarly obliterates Whyte.
Fans will be dumping all over Hearn for ages if Whyte is knocked cold for a second time. What will be even worse is if Whyte continues to suffer knockouts for the remainder of his career, and he winds up as a journeyman? That’s a natural outcome for Whyte, and you can imagine who will get the blame.
Fury to announce “big news” soonÂ
“We have some really big news coming soon, which is very positive, but I can’t break yet,” said Fury. “We’re all in good spirits about it. I just need a little confirmation about our guys at MTK Global and over at Queensbury and over at Top Rank.
“They’re just crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s at the moment. We’re going to have some big fight news soon, and when that news is broke. Then we’re going to. I’m not going to say how many weeks we’ve got because then we’d be giving it away.
“We’re going to train over here for a bit and then go over to the U.S to Las Vegas and pick up fight camp. We should have some more information next week. Possibly, yeah,” said Fury when asked if the Wilder fight might take place outside of America.
“Hopefully, [Wilder is the opponent]. I don’t care who it is. Whether it’s Wilder or whoever it is. Wilder is the one that is contracted to fight me, so I think it will be him. If it’s not, then I’ll take whoever. I don’t really care.
“I’ll take the fight and then move on to the next one. I’ve never heard that it’s not going to be Wilder, but if it’s not Wilder because he’s not ready because he’s injured.
“I’m not saying he is because I don’t know. All I know is I spoke to Shelly Finkel on the phone, and he said, ‘We’re all good.‘ I have to take them for their word because they haven’t let me down yet. I’ve got no reason to disbelieve them.
Fury will be announcing his rematch with Deontay in the next couple of weeks, and it’s about time.