By Charles Brun: Eddie Hearn says the rematch between Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte will be taking place on March 6th. If Hearn’s fighter Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) is victorious, he wants to set-up a fight between him and former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in 2021.
Wilder is ranked #1 with the World Boxing Council and is trying to get his contractual rematch with Tyson Fury, who has no interest in fighting him again.
With Whyte’s chin problem, it would be a bad idea for him to face a puncher like Deontay in this lifetime. I mean, we saw what Povetkin did to Whyte at the Matchroom Fight Camp on August 22nd last year. Do we really want a guy like Wilder putting hands on Whyte as well?
It’s unclear why Hearn would want Whyte to take that necessary and highly risky step going up against Wilder. If Whyte beats WBC interim heavyweight champion Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs), he’ll be the mandatory for WBC champ Tyson Fury.
Why would Hearn want Whyte to jump through another hoop to get a title shot if he were to beat the 41-year-old Povetkin?
The only way it makes sense for Hearn to want Whyte to face Deontay (42-1-1, 41 KOs) is if he’s looking to protect Anthony Joshua, who is facing Fury twice this year.
If Joshua beats Fury, he’ll be in possession of the WBC title, and it would fall on him the responsibility of defending against Whyte. Hearn has never seemed excited about letting Joshua face Whyte, and it’s understandable why.
Joshua is an important cog in the Matchroom Boxing stable, and if he loses to Dillian, there would be a lot of money going down the drain. Hearn’s golden goose would be plucked clean and cooked if Whyte beats Joshua, which is why appears to be setting up obstacles to make sure he never gets that chance.
Whyte will put his career literally on the line when he gets in there with Povetkin on March 6th. Last summer, Whyte was knocked cold in the fifth round by Povetkin in an ill-advised fight on August 22d.
It was a crazy idea for Whyte to take the fight with the hard-hitting former WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin in the first place, considering that Dillian was already the WBC mandatory challenger.
All Whyte had to do was sit back and wait until early 2021, and he would have been the one taking on Fury for his WBC belt unless he vacated it to avoid the fight. Instead of chilling, Whyte took on Povetkin to keep busy, and he paid a heavy price in getting knocked cold by a left uppercut in the fifth round.
Interestingly, Povetkin is giving Whyte a rematch rather than sitting and waiting for his title shot against Fury. It’s easy to guess what happens if Whyte loses to Povetkin again.
Hearn will push hard for a third fight between the two, and he’ll make it worthwhile for Povetkin to agree to it. Whyte would be out of his head to agree to the third fight with Povetkin, but he’ll take it anyway. If Whyte loses that match, it really will be game over for him, as it would pointless for Hearn to keep him on the Matchroom payroll.