By Scott Gilfoid: Eddie Hearn believes Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte has a great chance of winning his fight against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on April 23rd.
Hearn says Whyte’s one-punch power with his left hook, tenacity, and his excellent stamina could be more than enough for him to send the unbeaten 6’9″ Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) down to his career loss in eight days from now on April 23.
The cracks in the Fury facade were plain to see in his last fight against Deontay Wilder in October, with him getting dropped hard twice in the fourth, and seemingly being given a long count in the eyes of some fans. Gilfoid believes the mind is willing but the chin is weak with ole Fury.
Deontay may have done something to that chin of Fury’s with the howitzer right hand that he laid him out with. There are question marks about whether Fury can still take a decent punch without nosediving on the canvas.
If Wilder did knock something loose in Fury’s head, you best believe the left hook knockout artist Dillian will take full advantage of it on April 23rd.
It’s fair to say that Fury got LUCKY with the referee not waving the fight off after the second knockdown. That was reminiscent of the first Wilder-Fury fight in which Fury was knocked cold by the 6’7″ Deontay in the twelfth, and the referee didn’t stop the fight.
Fury vs. Whyte will be taking place in front of a massive crowd projected to be 94,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Although there’s been a lot of talk about Wembley selling out, it’s not been announced as a sellout yet.
That’s good news for boxing fans that are still interested in seeing the fight live before it sells out. If Hearn is correct about his projection of Whyte winning, this might be the last time boxing fans see ‘The Gypsy King’ before he’s dethroned as a world champion.
Hearn: Whyte can win
“I’m not going to sit and tell you that he wins because of this and that, but I will tell you is that he can win this fight,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about Whyte having a chance against Fury.
“He [Whyte] has the ability to take you out with one shot,” said Hearn. “He’s technically better than people think, he’s incredibly fit, incredibly durable and he has a big set of balls.
“It’s going to be very difficult to get into a rhythm against Tyson Fury. I expect Tyson Fury to be winning the fight, perhaps at all times during the fight.
“But if he switches off for one moment, Dillian Whyte is a fantastic body puncher and has a fantastic left hook that can take you out with one shot.
“Dillian can win this fight. He’s an underdog in this fight, and Tyson Fury is a brilliant heavyweight, he’s the best heavyweight in the world right now on paper.
“He’s the favorite in the fight, but Dillian Whyte can win this fight if he gets it right or if they trade up, and they will trade up, trust me. You could see a knockout like Whyte-Chisora.
“If Tyson Fury gets buttoned by Dillian Whyte’s left hook, it’s over. Over Tyson Fury? No question,” said Hearn when asked if Whyte is a bigger puncher than Fury.
Tyson Fury isn’t a puncher
“I don’t think Tyson Fury is a big puncher,” said Hearn. “Everyone can punch, but Dillian Whyte with his left hook, he’s probably one of the best-left hookers in the division. Even in the sport, he has a fantastic left hook.
“He’ll catch and counter. Watch the Povetkin knockdowns, watch the Chisora knockout. If he does that against Tyson Fury, he’ll win the fight.
“Look at his resume as well,” Hearn said of Fury not being a big puncher. “He didn’t knock out Klitschko. Chisora retired on his stool because he was like getting peppered.
“Show me the clean knockout Tyson Fury has had in his career against any elite opposition. Show me a proper stoppage. The Wilder fight in the last fight, I’ll give you that, but previously, it’s volume punches. He’s NOT a one-punch knockout artist.
“His level of opposition. When you go back and you look at Tom Schwarz, Sefer Seferi, Pianeta, Christian Hammer. Anyway, I don’t want to get into it. In my opinion, you got one [knockout of Wilder],” Hearn said.
Dillian is ready to fight
“On a serious note, I’m entitled to my opinion, Tyson Fury isn’t a big puncher,” Hearn continued. “Dillian Whyte is a left hook knockout artist.”
The left hook power of Whyte has got to be a real worry for Fury and his trainer SugarHill Steward because the brawling style that he uses in his fights means he’s going to be in the firing line for Dillian’s shots the entire contest.
Whyte totally ran over Alexander Povetkin in their rematch last March, obliterating him in four one-sided rounds in Gibraltar. If that version of Whyte shows up on April 23rd, Fury doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.
Even if Fury chooses to revert back to that ugly spoiling style that he employed for the Wladimir Klitschko fight in 2015, Whyte will get to his chin and plant him.
Heck, Fury would have lost to Wladimir on the night if he’d listened to his corner instructions from trainer Johnathon Banks to let his hands go.
“I think it’s probably contractual,” said Hearn about Dillian Whyte posting on social media about the Fury fight. “Sooner or later, he has to post. I spoke to him this morning, and a couple of days ago.
“He’s in a great place and is ready to fight. I’m interested in seeing him next week. I don’t know the obligations he’s under next week, but he has no problems going face to face with Tyson Fury and doing press conferences.
“Obviously, there’s been some arguments behind the scenes. Some I’m privy to and others I’m not privy to, but I’m certainly looking forward to the fight. I think ultimately, he’s [Whyte] going to have to do these things contractually.
“But I don’t know if other things have been sorted. Maybe they have. Maybe it was a trade-off. I don’t know the grossing number [for Fury vs. Whyte at Wembley Stadium], but it’s a big fight.
“The world heavyweight championship is always a big occasion. It’s a big domestic fight. It’s the first time there’s been a domestic world heavyweight fight since. It’s two British going for the world heavyweight championship. It’s a big fight.
“First of all, I think the American pay-per-view pricing is wrong in general,” said Hearn when told that Fury vs. Whyte is selling for $70 on PPV in the United States.
“Secondly, that’s going to do horrendous numbers in America, but it’s going to do great numbers in the UK. 24.99, I think is fair if it [Fury – Whyte] had an undercard, which it doesn’t. But also at the same time that the price for an AJ fight, 24.99.
“You got the 19.99 price point and the 24.99. AJ was the guy that kind of took it to 24.99. Not him personally, but because of the size of him. This is a big fight. I don’t think that’s an unfair price point.
“I think it does a million to 1.1 on Sky, and I think it does 600 to 700 on BT,” said Hearn about his projections for Fury vs. Whyte on pay-p-per-view in the UK.
