Whyte: My life was in tatters
DILLIaN WhYTe goes into what he prays will be his very final world heavyweight championship eliminator admitting that he needs to restore his image and esteem.
The Brixton Body Snatcher’s long, long wait for a world title shot has been no help to his reputation but there is a refreshing honesty to his self-assessment as he prepares for Saturday night’s brutal confrontation with russian iron man alexander Povetkin.
as he entered promoter eddie hearn’s back garden fight camp bubble, Whyte said: ‘In the last year of my career my credibility, my whole life, has been in tatters.’
In 2019, he was not only left marooned as the WBc’s interim belt holder while denied a tilt at the world title proper, but went through a prolonged legal struggle against drug test accusations.
Last December, on the undercard of anthony Joshua’s salvation rematch against andy ruiz Jnr in Saudi arabia, an overweight and distracted
Whyte lumbered to a laborious points victory in what should have been a knock- over fight against veteran Polish journeyman Mariusz Wach.
again by his own admission, he was ‘out of shape, overweight, in poor condition’. But that ponderous effort served as a wake-up call to immerse himself in a severe training camp in Portugal.
he says: ‘I needed to do that. Now I must do a proper job on Povetkin and reinforce my claim to the world title.’
a commanding victory against Povetkin would support the WBc’s order to guarantee Whyte (right) a mandatory challenge to the winner of Tyson fury’s trilogy world title fight against Deontay Wilder, now scheduled for December 19. ‘I want to fight the best,’ says Whyte. ‘I hope Tyson will not duck me like a coward. ‘I am not taking Povetkin lightly. he deserves respect as a tough fighter who has troubled the best heavyweights for 15 years. he is a dangerously heavy puncher.’ Whyte must face the 40-year-old behind closed doors, without the usual support of his large cult following. To which he says: ‘That is not a problem. I love a fight anywhere, any time.’