You have to admire Dillian Whyte’s fighting spirit, even if you cannot bring yourself to admire the man (Whyte has to be THE biggest trash-talker in the sport right now, with nobody safe from his wrath – Whyte having just about insulted every active heavyweight you care to name!)
Right now, with Whyte having to play the waiting game for he doesn’t know how long before getting the chance to put right the wrong Alexander Povetkin laid on him back in August, the Londoner is weighing up alternative fights.
Make no mistake, Whyte’s priority is that of making Povetkin pay for what he did to him in that fifth round back on Aug. 22. But as the 41 year old continues to recover from the coronavirus, Whyte is getting anxious and antsy.
He wants to fight. He needs to fight. Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports that, as soon as Whyte was told Povetkin would not be ready to fight on Jan. 30 as planned, his fighter asked him, ‘who else?’
And now, in speaking with Sky Sports himself, Whyte has laid out a five-fight plan. Whyte says that, in an ideal world, he will get the following five fights and then be content, ready to “call it a day.”
“In my mindset, there’s only five fights for me,” Whyte said. “If I get those five fights, then I’m happy to call it a day, to be honest. I don’t want any of these guys to retire.
“Those fights should be Povetkin, Luis Ortiz, [Deontay] Wilder, [Tyson] Fury, [Anthony] Joshua. Fight those five guys then I’ve fought everyone I can fight.
“Even now, Povetkin keeps delaying it (the rematch), saying he’s sick. I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s fine, I want you to be at your best when I fight you.’”
But it could be that Whyte fights someone else as he waits for Povetkin to be ready (Povetkin’s people suggest it could be “late winter, early spring” before the rematch with Whyte takes place).
So who might Whyte fight if he does have to wait around for Povetkin (and proceeds to get very angry in doing so)? Whyte said this week that he would “love to smash Deontay Wilder’s face in,” stating how he would be as up as can be for that fight.
Wilder is still battling it out legally, aiming for that third fight with Fury. However, Wilder did say that if he cannot get that fight he would fight some other guys, and he mentioned Whyte’s name.
This is a great fight, a potential explosion that either man might win. Of course, if Wilder returned to winning ways at Whyte’s expense, the British warrior would be in a far deeper hole than he’s in right now; with two recent KO losses to avenge, not just one.
But if Whyte was to fight one of the five guys he listed, and if his name was something other than Povetkin, Wilder is the most attractive – and perhaps the most realistic. Whyte isn’t going to get a return with AJ any time soon, nor is he going to land a massive fight with Fury.
The Ortiz fight could happen, maybe, but as far as we fans are concerned, if it’s anyone other than Povetkin next for Whyte, it would be most exciting if it’s Wilder. Still, as Whyte has asked many times, does Wilder really want to fight him?
This is a genuine grudge-match, as well as a guaranteed war. For however long it might last.
If he gets the five fights he has on his wish-list, Whyte might not end up retiring on top. But he sure would go out with a bang.
