Dillian Whyte New Trainer Harold Knight: Dillian’s Strategy Vs Povetkin Will Be ‘Similar’ To Tyson Fury’s Against Wilder… His Mindset Is Like Lennox Lewis
Ahead of his immediate rematch with Alexander Povetkin, Dillian Whyte’s new co-trainer Harold ‘Shadow’ Knight – the man who helped Lennox Lewis win his rematch against Hasim Rahman in 2001, much like Whyte is aiming to do in Gibraltar on March 27th, draws a comparison between Whyte and Lennox Lewis who also took an immediate rematch after getting KO’D.
Knight, speaking via the MyBettingSites.co.uk blog, said: “I’ve been brought in to bring some ‘American flavour’ to ‘pitbull’ Whyte – ‘adding a little gunpowder and pizazz'”
“I was brought in to bring some American flavour, to add that world championship experience, to add small little things to the recipe, to work on Dillian’s balance, to work on his jab and work on his defence.
“Dillian’s already like a pitbull, already like an assassin, so I’m just adding a little gunpowder to the mix; a little pizazz, bring some maestro to it, so the world can see he has taken it to another level.”
Harold Knight: Dillian has the skills, but they’ve been dormant – I’m working with him to bring those emphatic knockouts
“It brings some fun to the game. Don’t get me wrong, this is serious, there are big men in there trying to concuss each other – but we want Dillian to be able to use some of his weapons that have been dormant.
“He has them, but needs to be reminded of them. He has them, but needs to “do what Emmanuel Steward would do” – bring the fire and bring the smoothness out. Dillian already has all of this, I’m just adding a few more bullets to his arsenal.
“Dillian likes to knock guys out, this is what Manny Steward instilled into Lennox Lewis. ‘Let’s not be playing chess, let’s get guys out of there’. When Lennox fought Mike Tyson, Manny was cursing Lennox in the corner: ‘get him out of here’, the public wants to see knockouts. But we’re not going to do it recklessly, we’re going to do it smartly and we’re going to do emphatically – that’s what we’ve been working on.
“We are not going to let him off the hook, I know that much. As soon as he’s on the hook, if you don’t jerk that fishing rod and start reeling him in, that fish will find a way to get off. Once we get him hurt we are not going to let him off.
“Dilian’s always had a pretty good jab. Anytime Dillian uses it, and uses it in the right way, I don’t care who you are, it’s going to back you up, it’s going to back a sucker up. We are going to use different things, not just the jab, that Dillian already knew to do but didn’t use [and] that went dormant.”
Harold Knight: We are going to see shades of Tyson’s performance against Deontay Wilder here with the Kronk influence on the gameplan
“It will be similar to Tyson Fury’s performance against Wilder. In that similar direction. Sugar Hill changed the whole game plan against Wilder. They did not expect Fury to do what he did. It was a complete overhaul and they changed his way of thinking and he did it by having fun.
“Tyson seemed like he was having fun up in here. It’s more than throwing the punches, it’s the psychological part of it. I’m not going to give the game plan away but it’s not going to be the same Dillian that you saw in August 2020.”
Harold Knight: The time delay has given Dillian time to recover and it is working in our favour
“The good thing is the time. He said he initially wanted to [rematch] right away. I believe the gods are looking down on us because it gave us time, it gave Dillian time to recover. It gave us six months I believe, it worked out in our favour. It gave Dilian time to get used to myself and Dillian time to recover.”
Harold Knight: I am undefeated when it comes to rematches. I helped Lennox Lewis overcome a loss and I will be doing the same with Dillian
“I’m undefeated when it comes to rematches, I’m 2 and 0 when my guy got knocked out and we came back in the rematch and knocked them out, Lennox and Oliver McCall and Lennox and Hasim Rahman, so I look to go 3 and 0.
“We’re not going to make the same mistakes against Povetkin and Dillian’s going to use his IQ. We’re going to harness what Dillian likes to do and adjust and modify.”
Harold Knight: Dillian’s mindset is the same as Lennox’s when he got knocked out – they admitted the made a mistake and it’s how you come back
“Without a doubt Dillian’s mindset reminds me of Lennox’s when he avenged the defeats. Povetkin threw a shot and it landed and knocked Dillian out. The mindset of Dillian was the same of Lennox’s when he got knocked out.
“They both said: ‘He caught me, I take nothing away, give them credit’. That’s one thing I admire about Lennox and that I admire about Dillian – they didn’t blame it on the gloves, or a heavy suit, or there was something put in the water, they both said they caught me with a good shot, they accepted they made a mistake.
“The greatness of a fighter, that Dillian is going to show, is how you come back from a loss.”