Shot and stabbed, fortunate to be alive ‘Body Snatcher’ Whyte set for Parker bout
>> LONDON: British heavyweight boxer Dillian Whyte has earned the nickname “The Body Snatcher” but he is fortunate not to have gone to an early grave himself after being shot and stabbed as a youngster.
The 30-year-old Jamaica-born fighter takes on former heavyweight champion Joseph Parker tonight in London with the winner in line for a potential shot at a world title.
The father of three — his first child was born when he was just 13 — says nothing in the ring can rival the dangers he faced on the streets.
“Growing up, I got stabbed in a few places, had a few stitches, I got shot in the leg,” he told the Sun shortly before he beat the experienced Australian Lucas Browne in March.
“But I’ve always been a survivor, that’s what I’m good at doing.”
He talks in reverential terms about his mother Jane but her departure to England to look for work spelled trouble for him. “Man, when I was growing up in Jamaica we suffered, suffered, suffered,” Whyte, a former European kickboxing champion, said.
“My mum left when I was two to come and find work in London to make money, as we had nothing. Some days we couldn’t eat, we’d go to bed hungry.
“She left me with people who didn’t take very good care of me. They were taking the money my mum was sending and was telling me she wasn’t sending anything.
“I came here when I was 12 and was shot twice [he once pulled a bullet out of his knee], stabbed three times. That was my path. Thank God I found martial arts.”
Whyte, who lost two years of his career to a doping ban, admits he will never be seen as a knight in shining armour like current world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Whyte and New Zealand’s Parker have both lost to Joshua in their professional careers, Parker as recently as March this year. However, Whyte did beat Joshua in their amateur days before Joshua was crowned Olympic champion in 2012.