Whyte feeling relaxed ahead of ‘most important fight of career’
Dillian Whyte recognises his heavyweight rematch against Alexander Povetkin on Saturday night is the most significant fight of his career but the Londoner is relaxed ahead of the occasion in Gibraltar.
Whyte seemed poised to reinforce his position as the WBC’s mandatory challenger after knocking Povetkin down twice in their first meeting last August but the
Russian recovered to poleaxe his opponent with a savage left uppercut.
That shock fifth-round knockout loss has at least temporarily shelved hopes of fighting Tyson Fury, with Whyte’s only focus on immediate revenge ahead of his return bout against the 41-year-old Povetkin.
“It’s the most important fightofmycareer,”saidWhyte.
“But I’ve been through ups and downs my whole life; I’m used to coming back and proving people wrong, I’m used to showing people what I can do if they write me off.
“The main thing is to win. I’m a competitor and I hate losing at anything so I want to make it 1-1. That’s the plan.
“I’m good, I’m easy. Still learning, still improving and getting better every day. On
Saturday I’m coming to leave it all on the line once again. I’ll do whatever I need to do.”
The first meeting between the pair was staged behind closed doors in promoter Eddie Hearn’s childhood back garden in Brentwood because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Butthisweekend’scontest is due to be held at the Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar, with 500 fans able to attend after the British overseas territory recently became the first place in the world to vaccinate the whole of its adult population.