NO LONGER A HARD SELL
WHYTE’S RISE TO TOP BILLING
HELPING shift a record 94,000 tickets at Wembley has been easy for Dillian Whyte compared to having to sell 200 for his debut at the Medway Park Leisure Centre.
That was the deal 11 years ago as Whyte recalled how hard it was to persuade his mates from south London to venture out to Gillingham to see him turn professional.
“I can remember the guy’s name, what I was wearing, and I still speak to him on Facebook,” said Whyte of debut opponent Tayar Mehmed, below, whom he outpointed over four rounds.
“It was good, it was on a Frank Maloney show. But it was crazy
– I think I had to sell 200 tickets in Gillingham and at the time it wasn’t easy to get south Londoners to go there.
“Back then I could never have imagined anything like this. I didn’t get into boxing thinking I would be heavyweight champion. I got into boxing because it got me out of trouble and made me a bit of money. But as time’s gone on and you get better, you get a knack for it.”
The ‘Body Snatcher’ from Brixton has been knocking people out since he flattened a school bully in Jamaica – where he was born – as a 10-year-old. That’s when his boxing “sickness” began.
“I always knew I could punch because I think the first time I knocked someone out I was 10 or 11,” he said. “An older guy was bullying a younger Chinese guy because he was a different race. I didn’t do it deliberately, I’d just had enough of it. I closed my eyes and swung and when I opened them, the guy was out.
“Then as you learn, you get better and I got the sickness for boxing. My footwork and combinations got better, I started to understand more.
“The spars didn’t get easier, but I stopped going home with busted noses and stuff like that, so I thought I must be improving. It is a sickness – boxing is worse than drugs, man.” Whyte, who took a decision over Anthony Joshua as an amateur, starred in his own version of Waiting for Godot because he has been frustrated in his bid to land a world title shot.
He has finally got one, more than three years after being named the WBC’s No.1 challenger, and he has remembered some advice from his mum during the countdown this week.
He has been on his best behaviour and peace broke out at his final press conference with Saturday’s opponent Tyson Fury, which was refreshing.
“There were a lot of times when I didn’t listen to my mum and I regret it,” he said. “Now if she says something I listen. She said, ‘Son, behave yourself., remember where you’re from’.”
BT Sport Box Office will show the fight exclusively live tomorrow from 6pm. Go to bt.com/sportboxoffice