By Charles Brun: Trainer Dean Whyte predicts that Alexander Povetkin won’t be the same fighter he was the first time around when he faces Dillian Whyte in their rematch on March 27th. Whyte and Povetkin will be headlining on DAZN in ‘The Rumble on the Rock’ in Gibraltar.
The 41-year-old Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs), recently recovered from COVID 19, will be looking to starch Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) for the second time in less than a year.
Whyte has been forewarned about taking the fight with the powerful Russian, but he’s willing to gamble on his career. If it goes well for Whyte, he’ll be in a position to get a massive payday that will set him up for life with money.
That’s why Dillian is taking the fight. If Whyte loses, as the saying goes, ‘All the king’s horses and all the king’s men.‘
This could be the end of the line for Whyte as far as being put in a position to earn a title shot.
Interestingly, Dean, who shares the same last name as Whyte, believes Povetkin has aged too much in the last seven months for him to beat Dillian a second time.
It seems like a wacky belief, but we’ll find out if he’s right. Seven months is nothing. If anyone will be less than 100% for this fight, it’s going to be Whyte because he suffered a bad knockout last time he fought Povetkin.
Whyte will make amends for the loss
“He wants to make amends for his last outing,” said Dean Whyte to iFL TV about Dillian wanting to avenge his loss to Povetkin. “He’s happy. He’s always had to come from that aspect, and he was the underdog against [Joseph] Parker.
“Boxer against a fighter, they were saying he was going to get out-boxed, and he’d lose. There’s been a few fights where he was the underdog. I don’t think it changed his mindset.
“‘I’m going to go in there win, lose, or draw. Regardless, I’m going to put it on the line and just concentrate on that.’
“I don’t think it plays a part in anything. He’s got that unquenching determination to succeed, and he and the rest of the team believe he’ll make that amends on March 27th and get a great, great stoppage.
“That’s really for me. You want to win at all costs and get any type of win that comes. In terms of the drama and finality of how the last one went, he’ll amend that,” said Whyte.
In the best possible fairytale ending, Whyte will go and destroy Povetkin and prove that his loss last year was a fluke.
Dean Whyte could then celebrate Dillian’s good fortune, and the two of them could move on to eventually take on the winner of the two Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fights. Dillian would once again be the WBC mandatory, and everything would be as it was before he ran into Povetkin.
Unfortunately, this is the real world, and coming events cast their shadows before. What happened before will likely happen again with Whyte being knocked cold a second time by Povetkin.
It might be a good idea at that point for Eddie Hearn to cut Dillian adrift and look for younger talent.
Dean expecting a knockout for Dillian
“He’s looking big and strong, and I’m expecting a knockout,” Whyte said about Dillian. “I expect him to make amends to what previously happened.
“I know he took a different approach to boxing, and it looked really good, and he gave Povetkin a lot of respect, and rightly so.
“Obviously, it’s unquestioned Povetkin’s credibility in boxing and what he’s done in the sport. Maybe he [Whyte] gave him a little bit too much respect, and that could have been the undoing there,” said Dean.
If Whyte bum rushes Povetkin in the first round, he has a chance of knocking him out. But if Dillian waits and fights scared, he’s going to get nailed by one of Povetkin’s huge uppercuts.
Povetkin’s uppercuts aren’t as much of a problem for normal fighters because they don’t lean forward the way that Whyte does when he fights. Dillian’s habit of leaning forwards is just made for Povetkin’s uppercuts.
If you were to create the perfect fighter designed to be knocked out by Povetkin, you would create Dillian Whyte. The guy is a sucker for an uppercut, and that’s not going to change.
Is Povetkin too old to beat Whyte again?
“Can he [Povetkin] raise the bar again with father time ticking now?” said Dean Whyte. “Does he raise the bar again and perform? I can’t see thunder striking twice with him pulling out that shot and Dillian getting caught with the same shot again.
“I’m sure he’ll set out with a different game plan to try and win. You’re not going to say, ‘Oh, that worked in the last fight, let’s just try that again,’ because you’ll be very silly if you try.
“I think he’ll have a different game plan. It’s going to be very interesting because he’s a hell of a fighter who is going to go down in the Hall of Fame.
“He’s [Povetkin] competed at the real top level at the age that he is at his age. He’s probably got the best knockout resume in heavyweight boxing.
“If you watch the clips of his, it’s frightening. I feel Dillian is going to be assertive and apply educated pressure when necessary, step on the gas when necessary, and I feel he won’t be as patient if he hurts him this time,” said Whyte.
It’s silly for Dean to think that Povetkin has suddenly aged dramatically in the last seven months since his knockout win over Whyte. Granted, it’s hard on a person to come back from COVID 19, and imagine getting illness would age someone.
But clearly, Povetkin won’t have aged enough to where his power will have disappeared, and he’ll have forgotten how to throw an uppercut.
With the way Dillian leans forwards when he’s about to throw shots, he’s going to be a sitting duck for Povetkin’s uppercuts all night long. Frankly, I won’t be surprised if Whyte gets put over in the first round.
Dillian in a must-win situation
“It goes without saying,” said Dean when asked if this is a ‘must-win’ for Whyte. “It’s all on the line, and it’s a scary topic and situation to be in.
“There’s always room to come back from losses, but that’s not something we’re contemplating at looking at. What he’s looking at is making the adjustments that are necessary.
“Does Povetkin make any adjustments? Does he come in any fitter and does he come in any stronger? What we do know is he’s [Povetkin] going to be a little older, and Dillian has been in camp since virtually the end of the last fight, probably with some sort of rest here and there.
“He’s been getting in shape and getting stronger. Let’s see what happens. The fans are going to be in for a great night. These are both big strong guys that are coming to put it all on the line,” said Dean.
Losing a second time to Povetkin will be catastrophic for Dillian, and I don’t know how he could hope to come back.
I mean, Dillian’s promoter Eddie Hearn will obviously try his best to rebuild his career after a second knockout loss to Povetkin, but he would need to match him against someone tough to bring him back.
Hearn can’t feed many tomato cans to Whyte and expect that he gets a high enough ranking to become mandatory for the winner of the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fights.
The only way Whyte can come back from a second defeat against Povetkin would be for him to beat some of these fighters:
- Deontay Wilder
- Andy Ruiz Jr
- Filip Hrgovic
- Joe Joyce
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Joseph Parker