Dillian Whyte has vacated the British heavyweight title, calling his decision “a no-brainer.” Speaking with Sky Sports, Whyte says he could not get up for a mandated British defence against Sam Sexton, so he opted to give up the belt.
Whyte, who thrilled us in his epic 12-round slugfest of a win over Dereck Chisora back on December 10, is now looking for some top-10 fights, before a hoped-for shot at a world title before the end of this year.
British heavyweight Dillian Whyte has Tweeted how he and Bermane Stiverne could soon meet in a final WBC eliminator, the winner to challenge champ Deontay Wilder. As fans know, former WBC heavyweight champ Stiverne was to have fought Alexander Povetkin this past Saturday, the winner to face Wilder, but Povetkin failed a drugs test and fought late sub Johann Duhaupas instead (winning by violent 6th-round KO).
Fight fans roared their approval over the December 10 under-card at The Manchester Arena; both during the action that supported the headline act that saw Anthony Joshua blast out Eric Molina and afterwards. There have been no complaints about having parted with pay-per-view cash for the card, despite the disappointing (if predictable) headline fight.
The fan approval largely stemmed from the quite fantastic FOTY candidate that was the heavyweight war between bitter British rivals Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora. Indeed, this fight stole the show, leaving fans, pundits and experts alike breathless. The call for a rematch began almost immediately and promoter Eddie Hearn says it is definitely a possibility for next year – only this time, the fight will be deservedly elevated to headline status.
In a great, great heavyweight slugfest that exceeded all the hype, Dillian Whyte closely out-pointed bitter rival Dereck Chisora via 12-round split decision tonight in Manchester. These two went AT IT from the first bell to the last and we have not seen heavyweight action like it in a long time.
Eventually, after too many switches of momentum to keep up with, younger man Whyte edged the thriller via scores of 115-113 and 115-114. The third judge had it 115-114 for Chisora.
Due to the craziness displayed by Dereck Chisora earlier this week, when the heavyweight threw a table at his bitter rival Dillian Whyte, the BBB of C came close to calling tomorrow’s fight off. Instead, Chisora has been fined the sum of £25,000 and tomorrow’s clash will not contest the British title as was initially the case.
Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora had to be separated by security and filming was halted at Sky Sports studios this evening as they faced-off in the ‘Gloves Are Off’ ahead of their WBC World Heavyweight title eliminator at the Manchester Arena on December 10, live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and on SHOWTIME in the US.
The bitter London rivals sat face-to-face for 22 tension-filled minutes of filming with Johnny Nelson the man in the middle, before Whyte accused Chisora of ducking a clash with Anthony Joshua – lighting the fuse for the pair to leap to their feet, leading to security stepping in and filming ending.
Bitter heavyweight rivals Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte came face to face today at a press conference to further promote a British heavyweight title fight that in truth needs no further hype. These two DO NOT like one another and even if reigning British champ Whyte has made a habit of engaging in a war of words, verbally attacking a number of his previous opponents, the simmering intensity between these two is as real as it gets.
Before today’s presser, promoter Eddie Hearn was admittedly concerned over the two big men coming to blows or doing something generally crazy. This, thankfully did not happen (although these two have been involved in out-of-the-ring shenanigans before; remember Chisora’s infamous “bottle” incident with David Haye in Germany?)
Newly crowned British heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte says he wants to get one more fight in before the end of the year, and he told Sky Sports that his ideal choice of opponent would be Australia’s former WBA belt-holder Lucas Browne. Whyte, beaten as a pro only by reigning IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua (with whom Whyte is convinced he will one day get a return fight) has called the man known as “Big Daddy,” “a big baby.”
Whyte says he would love to fight, and silence, the man he has been going back and forth with on Twitter.
Dillian Whyte (19-1, 15 KOs) fought his heart out tonight in beating Ian Lewison (12-3-1, 8 KOs) by a 10th round TKO at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. The fight was stopped after the 10th round by Lewison’s corner. He had taken a beating in the 9th and 10th rounds, and he clearly had nothing left.
Dillian Whyte and Ian Lewison nearly came to blows at their press conference for their clash for the vacant British Heavyweight title at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on Friday October 7, live on Sky Sports.
Whyte and Lewison met in central London and sparks flew straight away between the big-hitting Brixton rivals.