EARNING YOUR SHOT
DURING lockdown, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching ESPN’S 30 For 30 series, in particular, Chasing Tyson – the story of Evander Holyfield’s quest to secure a fight with Mike Tyson.
After Holyfield defeated Carlos De Leon to unify the world cruiserweight titles, his next stop was the heavyweight division. He fought regularly and he fought ranked fighters – guys like Pinklon Thomas, Alex Stewart, Michael Dokes and Adilson Rodrigues. Even though he had been the undisputed cruiserweight champion, he still had to earn his world heavyweight title shot.
Fast forward to the present day, and another former undisputed cruiserweight champion in Oleksandr Usyk. He has used an obscure WBO rule to leapfrog his way over more deserving fighters in the heavyweight rankings. And people wonder why Dillian Whyte is getting annoyed at having to wait so long for his world title shot? How many hoops must Whyte leap through? It’s just ridiculous.
Usyk recorded a laboured win over the unranked Chazz Witherspoon and is next lined up to fight a fringe contender in Dereck Chisora. Whyte has beaten Chisora twice, as well as Robert Helenius, Lucas Browne, Joseph Parker and Oscar Rivas. He’s got the Alexander Povetkin fight next. How is it that Whyte can keep being denied a title shot?
Boxing politics, promotional allegiances and multi-fight contracts such as the Tyson Fury-deontay Wilder trilogy are messing with this guy’s career. The WBC have done Whyte no favours. They pushed him to one side so Wilder could fight Dominic Breazeale as his mandatory. Look what happened there. Does anyone out there actually think that Breazeale was more deserving than Whyte?
Let’s hope Whyte doesn’t lose a fight before he gets the title shot that he has undoubtedly earned. Paul Wickes
A GRAND BLOKE
I WAS always a fan of Alan Minter – as an amateur, as a pro, as a winner, as a loser. He was an exciting, brave fighter, destructive but so vulnerable to cuts. I remember, vividly even now, how upset I was when he was pulverised by Marvin Hagler.
I have always been reassured by reports that he has prospered in retirement, and reading the article on him in the July 2 edition of Boxing News was a joy.
He was so positive, so generous, so honest, so realistic about his career and retirement. A grand bloke. Best wishes, Alan. Michael Mclaughlin