Whyte ready for his blockbuster audition
‘Let me fight for the title, and I’ll sign a contract to fight these guys next back to back’
hbeating Povetkin is crucial to British heavyweight’s chances of gatecrashing Joshua and Fury’s two-fight showdown
How Whyte can muscle in on Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua
It is the old game of snakes and ladders: win against Alexander Povetkin in their Gibraltar rematch tonight and Dillian Whyte is back in the big time and the next cab off the rank should anything happen to Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua. Lose, and he slides down the heavyweight ratings and will have to climb the ladder again, to be regarded as a gatekeeper for the upand-comers.
That is not where Whyte intends to reside, and he has half an eye on muscling in on boxing’s biggest fight yet, especially as the first of the two proposed bouts does not have a date and venue yet.
“Look, one of Fury or Joshua might get knocked out in the first fight, and say they’ve had enough,” Whyte says. “This is boxing, man. Let’s see what happens. The fight might even not happen. Boxing is a dog-eat-dog business, and you just have to win, get in position, and be ready.
That’s my mindset.”
Victory in Gibraltar would propel Whyte towards fights with Fury, Joshua or even Deontay Wilder – all multi-million-pound contests. But it is the £200million showdown that is on his mind. “It’s weird that it’s not signed. Why aren’t they both going on about the fight? It’s crazy,” Whyte continues. “If there’s one fight you need to be vocal about, it’s this fight. If you’re not screaming and shouting about this fight you must have a dead soul.
“Let me fight for the title, and I’ll sign a contract saying I’ll fight these guys next back to back. I’ll be the assassin. I’m on straight smoke. I would assassinate all these guys for them, free of charge.” But if they do fight, Whyte adds, “it’s hard to pick. Fury has been inactive for a long time, and Joshua has grasped a safer way of boxing. For me, it’s a 50/50 fight.”
What happened in the first contest?
Whyte, for so long the nearly man in the heavyweight division, had dominated the Russian for four rounds and had knocked him down twice in their first contest last August. Then came the moment for which the heavyweight division is famous: the knockout. Size and weight equals power, and in heavyweight boxing, when 17st and 18st men collide, it is so often lights out.
“I’ll always be a junkyard dog because that’s where I come from,” Whyte says. “This is the most important fight of my career. I’ve been through ups and downs my whole life, so I’m used to bouncing back, proving people wrong, showing people what I can do when they’ve written me off.”
What are the fighters saying?
“Let’s see if [Povetkin] can make changes and how many changes he makes at this stage in his career,” Whyte says. “I’ve never seen him celebrate a victory like that. He’s usually a cool, calm, collected guy. He couldn’t believe he won.
“I’m not a guy that visualises the knockout or that kind of stuff, but I know I’ll stop him. Visualising and reality are two different things. I make things a reality. Povetkin’s a good fighter, a top amateur, Olympic gold medallist, but I’m learning, improving and getting better every day. I’m going to leave it all on the line once again. The main thing is the win. My coaching team has worked hard on different plans and working different areas.”
Povetkin strikes a different tone. “I’ve almost forgotten about the last fight because this is finished,” he says. “Dillian will be better in the second fight than the first. I’ll try to be more careful, pay attention more to my defence. I don’t have this mindset that I’ll knock him out. It
could go the distance; I’m not focusing on the knockout.”
Who will win?
Both men are likely to be cagey and cautious in the opening forays. Whyte will have to avoid the Russian’s traps, but the improved jab of the Londoner should mean he commands the bout, with his left hook detonating later in the contest – rounds seven to 11. But with heavyweight boxing, anything can happen.
Verdict
Whyte by TKO or KO between rounds seven and 11.
Povetkin v Whyte 2 for the WBC Interim heavyweight title is live on Sky Box Office tonight.