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Dillian has a few weapons he hasn’t used
Dillian Whyte has reached a level he has never reached before and his co-trainer Harold Knight believes the crowd will be surprised by his performance against Alexander Povetkin.
Why He will finally get his chance for revenge in Gibraltar on Saturday night when he faces Povetkin live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and on DAZN in over 200 countries, seven months after a devastating fifth-round defeat at Matchroom HQ.
The Briton, who was one win away from winning the WBC world title against Tyson Fury after more than 1,000 days of waiting, knocked down the experienced Russian twice in the fourth round before his hopes were dashed by a terrible uppercut in the fifth.
After two postponements due to “Sasha” testing positive for Covid-19 and a travel restriction that forced him to reschedule for March 6, “The Body Snatcher” could regain his interim WBC heavyweight title with a win and move closer to a world title shot.
The 32-year-old has joined Lennox Lewis’ former co-trainer Harold ‘Shadow’ Knight to work alongside head coach Xavier Miller, and the American claims the pair have learnt a lot from each other.
“We think pretty much the same way,” Knight said. proboxing-fans.com.
“Of course, Xavier did not have the same experience at the World Championships that I was fortunate to have, being under the guidance of great coaches and teachers.
“The tardy great Emanuel Steward, the tardy great John Davenport who was Lennox Lewis’ first professional coach, Pepe Correa who was Sugar Ray Leonard’s coach, so we more or less compliment each other because Xavier is a student of the game, he studies a lot.
“Once again, I learned some things from him and I’m sure he learned something from me, so we more or less work together and lend a hand each other, learning from each other.
I’ve been playing this game for a long time, but anyone who claims to know everything is a damn lie.
“I’m always willing to learn, and the most significant thing is that we leave egos at the door and our goal is to make Dillian better because he is the one in the ring throwing and taking punches, not us.
“I’m here and he’s here to lend a hand and win. We are here to win.”
Whyte made no excuses for his defeat Povetkinwhich ended an 11-fight winning streak since his only career loss to Anthony Joshua in 2015, even counting Heavenly sports this week: “If you fight the good guys one by one, you will get knocked down and you will lose. It `s just the way it is.”
During Knight’s 13-year association with Lewis, who became undisputed heavyweight champion in 1999, “The Lion” suffered back-to-back shock defeats to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, both of which he avenged, and the veteran trainer sees similarities between the pair in terms of their character and mindset.
“In that respect, the similarities are essentially the same,” Knight added.
“Because when Lennox got knocked out, he didn’t make any excuses, he didn’t blame anyone or anything like that. He stood up, dusted himself off and said, “Hey, I’m going to work on what I need to work on because I know what a mistake I made.” Dillian said the same thing.
“He took a shot, yeah, he knocked me out, but you know, hey, I want to exercise my rematch clause and hey, you know what, I have to up my game, I have to up my weaponry, even if that means bringing in someone else to lend a hand me on the technical side, to lend a hand me see some things that I haven’t seen before.
“Or just another pair of eyes added to Xavier’s that will be able to more or less tell him about the boxing aspect of it, so same similarities.”
The immediate path to a world title fight should Whyte win appears unclear for unified champion Joshua and WBC champion Fury, who is scheduled to meet later this year on a two-fight deal.
Former world champion Povetkin said earlier this week on a Zoom conference call that he did not believe Whyte would change much since their first meeting, but Knight insists his players have reached a level he has not yet reached, one that he expects will be ready for another tough challenge.
“Dillian has a ceiling he hasn’t reached yet.
“I feel like considering he only has eight amateur fights and obviously 29-30 professional fights, it takes a little longer for heavyweights to mature.
“When I came on board, I noticed that Dillian is a really damn good boxer. He can really box, his IQ is off the charts. He knows boxing, he doesn’t just box, we’re talking about a lot of other boxers, whether they’re lightweights, heavyweights, old-school boxers.
“So Dillian still has a ceiling to reach, he still has levels to overcome, I feel like that, so I just feel like we have more upside in this second fight than Povetkin because Dillian is a few inches taller and he has a few inches he has more reach, he hits a little harder, even though Povetkin hits demanding too.
“But Povektin has one style. He’ll come in, he’ll punch you in the face and chest all day long, and Dillian obviously is a fighter, he can punch, but I feel like he has a few more weapons that he’s never used, but he has them, but he’s never used them.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s going to be a really tough fight because Povetkin looks really good, he’s in really good shape and it’s his last fight.
“It’s high stakes for both players, everything is on the line for us, everything is on the line for him. A lot of people from all over the world will really watch this fight.”
The Brixton fighter was criticised in some quarters for failing to finish the job after Povetkin was injured in the fourth round, with Joshua questioning his finishing instincts.
Knight worked with the tardy, great Emanuel Steward, who formulated his notable Kronka style of boxing, based on aggression and an emphasis on securing knockouts.
Knight, a one-time world title challenger, insists Whyte will surprise people and says the plan is to stop Povetkin if the opportunity arises.
“You can expect that we are working to make Dillian smarter.
“When you see that shark-like blood, you’ll take him out of there. We won’t wait.
“But to be smarter and outsmart him, Dillian is stronger. Like I said, to outsmart him and speed him up.
“Being able to strike when he wants to, but also being able to stay focused, being able to keep his hands up, being able to exploit that jab, being able to improvise that jab, using the feints, being able to exploit a boxing repertoire that he hasn’t used in his previous fights.
“In addition to working on his defense, we worked a lot on his defense.
“So you can expect a lot of different things, a lot of people will be surprised, believe me.”
Natasha Jonas unified the welterweight division by defeating Ivana Habazin by clear points on Saturday to add the WBC title to her IBF crown at the Exhibition Center in Liverpool.
Jonas (16-2-1, 9 KO) was last seen defending her title in January in a hard-fought split decision over Mikaela Mayer, while Habazin (23-6, 7 KO) won the vacant WBC welterweight title in her home country. time out, winning by wide points over Kinga Magyar.
After a technical opening round, Jonas settled into a steady rhythm before landing a powerful right hand in the fourth round that crushed Habazin.
There was a rivalry, but the home favorite was much better in the rallies and seemed to be losing round after round.
This situation lasted until the final bell, when Jonas became the winner by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92.
Price is closing in on Jonas’ match
Lauren Price definitely stayed on as a collision course with Jonas and easily defended her WBA and IBO welterweight titles after a third-round fight against Bexcy Mateus.
Mateus (7-1, 6 KO) was on board in the first round, after the Welshman landed a powerful left hand, and the Colombian struggled to match Price’s speed.
The same shot caused the 29-year-old to repeat the punch in the second round, and the round later ended when another stinging left hand stunned Meteus and she fell to the canvas, after which the fight was stopped.
Price (8-0, 2 KO) has agreed to face Jonas next, and promoter Ben Shalom revealed it could be announced next week.
Knife edge passes McKenna
Lee Cutler scored an upset victory to claim the silver WBC International welterweight title after winning a majority decision against Stephen McKenna.
McKenna (15-1, 14 KO) was eliminated in the first round, his knee touching the canvas after being tagged, and Cutler (15-1, 7 KO) took full advantage of his opponent’s weakness in the seventh round when his right hand plunged into his knee. The Irishman who ultimately fell once again.
McKenna was relentless in his attacks and landed a huge number of punches.
The balance of 94-94 was surpassed by the scores of 95-93 and 96-92, which ensured the victory for Cutler.
Jeffers stopped Quartey
Mark Jeffers is on track for large fights in 2025 after defeating Joshua Quartey to defend his silver Commonwealth super middleweight title.
A pair of right hands put Quartey (10-1, 9 KO) on the board, and although he broke the count, a well-placed body shot after the restart by Jeffers (19-0, 6 KO) blew the guy away again.
A crazy attack after the restart forced a stoppage.
Riley secures Chamberlain’s face-off with a stoppage
Viddal Riley finished the heavyweight fight and stopped Dan Garber in the second of the scheduled six rounds.
Riley (12-0, 7 KO) hit Garber (7-4, 2 KO) with his right hand, and then his next attack forced the referee’s intervention.
Riley’s next match will be against Isaac Chamberlain on February 1.
Undercard remaining
Mason Cartwright (21-4-1, 8 KO) won all six rounds at super welterweight against Dzmitry Atrokhau (16-25, 7 KO), and Hope lightweight Frankie Stringer (9-0, 1 KO) did the same in the fight against Tatenda Mangombe (3-9-1).
In the flyweight division, Mikie Tallon (6-0) defeated Benn Norman (7-7) with a body shot in the first round of the match, and then settled for a 59-54 victory.
The only fighter to fight four rounds in the super featherweight division was Mason Devine (6-0, 1 KO), who won every session against Jayo Fernando Duran (15-34-1, 14 KO).
Dillian Whyte has revealed his predictions for the hotly anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury on December 21.
Fury, who knocked out Whyte at Wembley Stadium in 2022, will seek revenge for the only defeat of his career in just 11 days, after losing to Usyk by split decision earlier this year.
Despite losing the night, “The Gypsy King” was a major success and many are struggling to pick a winner in his second battle against the imperious Ukrainian.
Some experts believe Fury needs to be more aggressive and take the lead if he is to win.
I’m talking to Social boxingWhyte revealed he shared that view, asking the Morecambe man to return to the game plan that saw him destroy Deontay Wilder in the return leg.
“It’s a great fight, man, I’m still trying to think – how will this fight go?
“Okay, Fury can make changes, but Usyk can make changes too. It’s a tough fight, a very, very tough fight for both fighters.
“If I were Fury’s coach, I would tell him he has to play aggressively.
“Fight him like you fought Wilder the second time.
“Bring back the aggression, bring back the tyrant!
“This is heavyweight boxing – you never know.”
It is unclear whether Fury will heed the advice of Whyte and others in the boxing world who have advised him to take the fight to Usyk, but looks noticeably heavier than before the first fight.
What are the changes? ❌@Tyson_Fury says he will exploit exactly the same game plan as the first time when he faces Oleksandr Usyk at the end of the month.
Thinks? 🧐 pic.twitter.com/VtpEwLJkWx
— Professional boxing fans (@ProBoxingFans) December 6, 2024
Win or lose, the 36-year-old could face a long-awaited home fight against Anthony Joshua, even though “A.J.” interrupted defeat against Daniel Dubois in September.
While it may not have been as great a spectacle as it once was, a clash between Joshua and Fury would still be by far the biggest all-British fight in recent memory.
As for Whyte, he returns to the ring next Sunday night and will face Ghanaian heavyweight Ebenezer Tetteh live on DAZN in Gibraltar.
The All-American fight between lightweight world champions Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson is one of the most anticipated fights in all of boxing.
Both Davis and Stevenson are undefeated multi-weight champions and are staples on any respected pound-for-pound list.
With this in mind, you could be forgiven for assuming that the pair locking corners in their prime years is a given, but that doesn’t seem likely to happen in the near future.
“Tank” spoke to the media at the press conference inaugurating his performance March 1 fight with Lamont Roach, and when the prospect of fighting Stevenson arose, he didn’t seem particularly interested.
The Baltimore hitter even went so far as to question what his compatriot did to deserve him.
“What for? Who has Shakur [beat]? What did Shakur do?
“What has he achieved in sports? He didn’t do anything! Juvenile people look better than him!”
“Keyshawn [Davis] you look so much better than that nigga! Shout it out nigga, he ain’t done nothing!
I asked Gervonta about a possible fight with Shakur… #Box #TankRoach pic.twitter.com/T1eNFJ9iIO
— Dwa O Dwa Z.. (@Noo_Barzz) December 3, 2024
“Why the hell are you saying his name?”
Like Davis, Stevenson will also return to action in the first quarter of next year, fighting against up-and-comer Floyd Schofield on the February 22 Riyad season card.
The Newark southpaw has been sidelined since his July decision victory over Artem Harutyunyan after he had to withdraw from a proposed October fight with Joe Cordina due to injury.
Saudi boxing boss Turki Alalshikh has expressed his willingness to have a fight between the two virtuosos, provided both are successful in their upcoming fights.
‼️ His Excellency Turki Alalshikh stated that he wants the Gervonta Davis vs Shakur Stevenson fight: “My plan for Shakur is this fight [vs Floyd Schofield]then William Zepeda, and then let’s see if Tank wants to come on our show.” [@DAZNBoxing] pic.twitter.com/Mmi6hO7Fjo
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBenson) December 3, 2024
While he undoubtedly has the talent to rival Davis, Stevenson is not as commercial a star as his rival, and some critics believe he needs to start giving more entertaining performances if he wants to get substantial names.
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