Whyte: I beat Parker with broken hand
My left hook is one of my best punches, but as soon as I hit him with the first jab my glove started filling up.
Dillian Whyte
British heavyweight boxer Dillian Whyte has claimed he beat Joseph Parker with a broken hand and rib, which he injured while training for the fight.
Whyte took out a unanimous decision victory over Parker on Sunday, handing the Kiwi heavyweight the second loss of his career.
The 30-year-old Brit said he broke two knuckles in his left hand and a rib three weeks before the fight.
“I’m all right, I’m a little bit sore. I had a broken hand going into the fight that is still a little bit sore,” Whyte told the Off The Ball podcast.
“I broke my hand three weeks out and then in the same week of sparring, my rib got done as well!
“I broke my left hand — the last two
little knuckles on my left hand. My left hook is one of my best punches, but as soon as I hit him with the first jab in the fight, my glove started filling up.”
Whyte put Parker — who had never been knocked down in his career — down twice, while getting knocked to the canvas himself in the 12th round in a classic heavyweight bout. He said his injuries made him rethink his fight plan.
“It’s funny, I was in there and he hit me with a body shot in the first round — I think it was a left hook to the body in the same spot that the rib is fractured — and I thought ‘Oh my god, here we go!’
“Then I just thought that every time this guy hits me and it hurts, I’m going to try and hit him back as hard as I can!
“I just thought ‘let’s have a war, there’s no point trying to box this guy. I’m going to hit him back as hard as I can and try and hurt him’.”