Whyte eyes rematch despite stunning KO
IF football was run like boxing, there would be an immediate rematch if the bigger, richer favourites lost the cup final. That right would be enshrined in the pre-Wembley or Hampden contract. It turns out exactly such a clause was in place in case Dillian Whyte was knocked out of his promoter’s back garden and into the middle of next week. Which is exactly what Russian veteran Alexander Povetkin did to him on Saturday with a brilliantly-executed howitzer of a short left uppercut. So here endeth the Brixton Body Snatcher’s thousand-plus days in waiting for a world-title fight? So the 40-year-old iron man from Kursk will be getting the glory shot against Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder which the WBC promised the winner? Not so fast. Once Whyte had been reacquainted with his senses after that fifth-round shock dropped him, he screamed: ‘Rematch.’ To which Eddie Hearn replied: ‘No problem. In the contract.’ Really? For a comparatively meaningless interim title and a token ‘diamond’ belt? Maybe there is a case for safety nets for world champions. Muhammad Ali did not ask for one the night he lost the Fight Of The Century to Joe Frazier. The Greatest just worked his way back through three hard years to a second match in 1974, as Smokin’ Joe duly did for the trilogy fight a year later. But for contenders? Well, Hearn believes so. He says: ‘Povetkin won’t be called to negotiations with Fury or Wilder the way Dillian would. So we’re looking at the rematch in December.’ So, of course, does Whyte, who says: ‘I was bossing the entire fight until he caught me with that punch.’ Not strictly accurate. Povetkin gave as good as he got in the first two rounds. Whyte stopped him in his tracks with a heavy punch towards the end of the third and looked the likely winner in the fourth as he twice put Povetkin down.
But Povetkin’s uppercut exploited a flaw he and his trainer espied in Whyte’s technique. While Whyte falls out of most of the world heavyweight top-ten rankings, there is still a chink of light in the shape of the WBC list. Although Povetkin displaces Whyte as ‘interim’ champion, the ninth spot he occupied is now left vacant. If that is being kept open for Whyte, he would qualify as a voluntary challenger to Fury or Joshua. The latter was quick to say he would give Whyte a chance ‘once I’ve dealt with my current obligations, even though he turned down a title fight with me once before.’ Joshua’s next commitment is a December defence of his several belts against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, whose promoter Bob Arum took pot shots at both AJ and Whyte overnight. His first tweet read: ‘Dillian was so busy fighting for his WBC mandatory position, he didn’t see Povetkin’s uppercut which knocked him cold.’ The second warned: ‘Pulev will knock out Joshua next. London bridges are falling.’ If that happens, world heavyweight boxing will be turned as dramatically on its head as Whyte was. The impact of so brutal a KO can be lasting. Even so, both Whyte and Hearn say he will win the rematch. Are we sure?