By Jake Tiernan: Dillian Whyte has taken to Twitter to claim his innocence in reaction to the reports of his positive test with VADA, resulting in the cancellation of his August 12th rematch against Anthony Joshua.
Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) states that he’s disappointed the fight has been canceled without him getting “any chance to demonstrate my innocence.”
It would likely take time for Whyte to prove his innocence, and with the event taking place on August 12th, it would be too risky to keep him on the card as Joshua’s opponent.
Despite the misgivings by many boxing fans about using Whyte as Joshua’s opponent for the August 12th event, this was the guy that he wanted, and it’s now clear that his judgment was off.
There is a possibility that Derek ‘War’ Chisora step in as a last-minute replacement to face Joshua. Although the backlash would be huge if Chisora (33-13, 23 KOs) is used as the substitute, he’s well known to the British boxing public, reliable, can punch, and is close to the same level as Whyte.
Eddie Hearn probably won’t want to match Joshua up against anyone in the top 10 because he wouldn’t have adequate preparation time to get ready before August 12th.
https://twitter.com/DillianWhyte/status/1687833333365944320?s=20
It’ll be interesting to see if the 35-year-old Whyte is eventually able to prove his innocence, but you can imagine that it’ll take ages for him to do so.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Whyte is still trying to slog through the legal mess of proving his innocence a year from now, and by then, obviously, his chances of a tremendous payday against Joshua will have been long past.
It’s unlikely that Hearn will ever use Whyte as a potential option for Joshua in the future. With today’s reports of Dillian’s adverse analytical findings for his VADA test, he can forget about being given a second chance to fight Joshua.
As far as a replacement goes, Eddie Hearn will obviously dig up someone close to what Whyte would have brought to the table in terms of talent or lack thereof to face Joshua on August 12th.
With the bar already being so low, with faded Whyte being the original opponent, it shouldn’t be difficult for Hearn to replace him with a suitable body.
Whyte had arguably lost three out of his last four fights, with knockout defeats against Tyson Fury & Alexander Povetkin and a highly controversial twelve round majority decision win over Jermaine Franklin, which many boxing fans felt should have gone the other way.
I’m told @MatchroomBoxing is seeking a replacement to fight Joshua and hopes to keep the card on but it’s a fluid situation. #boxing
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) August 5, 2023
