By Barry Holbrook: Dillian Whyte won’t until his rescheduled rematch with Alexander Povetkin on January 30th, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn. Per Michael Benson, Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) is now off the November 21st card.
In place of Whyte, Hearn has moved the welterweight clash between Conor Benn v. Sebastian Formella to the main event, and the card is now on regular Sky Sports rather than on Box Office. It’s too low-level of a fight to selling it Box Office.
Sadly, Whyte, 32, could have stayed on the November 21st card if he’d agreed to face the dangerous Michael Hunter or Dereck Chisora. Both of those fighters volunteered to step in and replace the 41-year-old Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs), who tested positive for COVID-19.
Hunter was willing to fight Whyte for free, but that wasn’t enough of a lure for Hearn to use him as the replacement. Hunter and Chisora were likely considered too risky for Whyte to face, as he’s coming off of a brutal fifth-round knockout defeat at the hands of Povetkin on August 22.
We don’t know how Whyte will take getting hit to the head with a hard shot. Whyte was willing to take a huge risk in fighting the 41-year-old Povetkin just three months after being knocked unconscious last summer.
Assuming Povetkin recovers in a speedy fashion from his illness, he’ll face Whyte on January 30th. However, that’s optimistic that Povetkin will be able to fight that soon. For a lot of people that are sick with COVID 19, it takes two months to get well.
If Povetkin is just now having become ill with it, he might not be well by January 30th. Whyte may be making a mistake by electing to move off the November 21st card. There could be some confidence issues that have led to Whyte given up on fighting on the date.
Before Whyte suffered a shocking fifth-round knockout loss to Povetkin, 41, last August, he used to refer to himself as the ‘Can-Man,’ a fighter that was brave, daring, and willing to take on anyone.
Now with Whyte having been knocked out by Povetkin, things have changed. Dillian has now become the hunted, with Chisora and Hunter pushing for the fight with him. Whyte losing out on a big payday by giving up the November 21st headliner spot.
If he could have kept that position if he’d agreed to face Chisora or Hunter, but perhaps his self-confidence is no longer what it once was. If Whyte keeps referring to himself as the “Can-man” after this, he’s not going to be taken seriously by boxing fans.
“The Povetkin-Whyte rematch has been postponed. Povetkin fell ill with a coronavirus infection and is now under the supervision of doctors in one of the Moscow clinics, taking care of his health,” said Povetkin’s promoter Andrey Ryabinskiy to skysports.com.
“There is no talk about changing the opponent at the moment. Povetkin will box with Whyte”.