Announced: Dillian Whyte vs. TBA on Oct.30th at the O2 in London on Dazn

Image: Announced: Dillian Whyte vs. TBA on Oct.30th at the O2 in London on Dazn
By Boxing News - 09/01/2021 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie hearn has announced that heavyweight Dillian Whyte will be returning two British soil on October 30th to headline against TBA on DAZN at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Hearn didn’t say if this will be pay-per-view on top of the normal subscription price for UK boxing fans to watch Whyte, as recent fights have been peddled on pay-per-view on Sky Box Office.

Even though Whyte isn’t a world champion, his fights have been sold on PPV, which is very odd.

It’s fair to say that many British fans will be jumping ship and abandoning DAZN if they’re asked to pay to watch Whyte fight on pay-per-view.

The opponent for the 33-year-old Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is expected to be one of these guys:

  • Jermain Franklin
  • Chris Arreola
  • Charles Marin

Chris Arreola has a 2-fight losing streak

Arreola, 40, has a nice little two-loss losing streak going, having been beaten by Andy Ruiz Jr. and Adam Kownacki. Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs) won a fight two years ago, in early 2019, against Jeanpierre Augustin.

Image: Announced: Dillian Whyte vs. TBA on Oct.30th at the O2 in London on Dazn

It would look awful if Whyte chooses to fight another 40-year-old fighter like Arreola, given that his previous three fights have come against 41-year-old Alexander Povetkin x 2 and 40-year-old Mariusz Wach.

Jermaine Franklin an unknown in the U.S

The little-known American Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs) is the one that Hearn has been banging on about for the last few months, making it know that he loves the idea of Whyte fighting him.

Hearn doesn’t seem to realize that American boxing fans, for the most part, have never heard of Franklin, but the ones that have noted that he struggled to defeat journeyman Jerry Forrest by a controversial 10 round split in 2019 in his most notable fight as a pro.

So, basically, Whyte would be fighting a guy with journeyman-level talent if he winds up facing Franklin.

Charles Martin = best of the bunch

Former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) is easily the best of the gang of three that Hearn considers for Whyte’s next fight on October 30th.

Unfortunately, Hearn hasn’t seemed eager to make the fight between Dillian and Martin, perhaps fearing that Whyte will get knocked into oblivion again.

Look at it this way. Whyte is standing at the precipice of a massive payday when he uses his WBC mandatory spot to challenge WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, in 2022.

If Whyte gets beaten by Martin, who can still punch like no tomorrow, he can forget about all the loot that he would have made against Fury.

That would impact not just Whyte but also Hearn and Matchroom. As such, Hearn isn’t eager to throw Whyte in with Martin and watch the feeding frenzy from the American as he rips the soft-chin Dillian apart.