Dillian Whyte to fight in September in U.S

By Boxing News - 06/10/2021 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: Eddie Hearn wants to get WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte back in action in September in the U.S. Having Dillian, 33, fight in the U.S will help attract interest from American fans when he fights for a world title in 2022.

Hearn says he’s looking at different options to match against the 6’4″ ‘Body Snatcher’ Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs), who is coming off an impressive fourth-round knockout win over Alexander Povetkin.

Whyte avenged his loss from a year ago against former WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin.

Dillian Whyte to fight in September in the U.S

“I had a meeting with his team on Monday, and we’re looking at options, really,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Dillian Whyte. “There are opportunities for him.

Image: Dillian Whyte to fight in September in U.S

I’d like for him to fight in the U.S, and there’s another couple of fights we’re looking at as well. I think you’ll see him out in September.

“There is a chance that Dillian can fight at the end of August. Again, everybody wants to try and box twice,” said Hearn.

Whyte fighting in the U.S in September can only mean that Hearn is planning on matching him against an American fighter to attract interest.

The way that Hearn was praising former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin on Thursday suggests that’s someone that he’s got his eye on for one of his fighters.

Hearn will have to make a significant offer to get the 6’5″ Martin to agree to stick his neck out for a fight against Whyte. Martin is ranked #6 with the WBA, and he may not be eager to put that ranking at risk for a small amount of money.

If Martin can get a title shot against Anthony Joshua, he would make millions. He’s not going to make that kind of money as the B-side opponent for Whyte.

As the interim WBC heavyweight champion, Whyte is in a position to challenge for the WBC title in 2022.

Dillian could fight three times in 2021

“For AJ, that kind of makes it difficult because if he fights on September 25th or September 18th, you’ve got to get a quick win without any hiccups to get out again in December,” Hearn said.

Image: Dillian Whyte to fight in September in U.S

For Dillian, he definitely wants to have two fights this year. The first of those would look to be early September to give you the opportunity to fight in December as well,” said Hearn.

It looks like Hearn has lost track of the fact that Whyte has already fought once in 2021 in March against Alexander Povetkin.

If Dillian returns in September and December, that would make three fights this year, not two. It might be difficult for Hearn to get Whyte a third fight if he performs another demolition job on Povetkin in Gibraltar.

There aren’t too many promoters going to want to put their fighters in with Whyte after his knockout win over Povetkin. It might require that Hearn make a big offer to someone like Michael Hunter.

It’s not likely that Whyte would agree to fight someone risky, though, because he’s in the position to challenge for the WBC title.

Whyte already lost his WBC interim and mandatory spot last year with his fifth-round knockout loss to Povetkin. Would Whyte be willing to face a dangerous heavyweight like Filip Hrgovic or Andy Ruiz Jr?

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