Eddie Hearn and Dillian Whyte have both made up their mind that they want to take the risk of fighting Alexander Povetkin in an immediate rematch after losing to him last Saturday night.
Hearn wants Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs) to recover from his 5th round knockout, as he was knocked unconscious by the talented Russian Povetkin, who got up off the deck from two knockdowns in round four to rally in the 5th to get the win at the Matchroom Fight Camp.
Hearn is targeting December for the Whyte vs. Povetkin rematch. They plan on executing the rematch clause to force Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs) to enforce the rematch.
Is four months enough time for Whyte to recover from being knocked completely out by Povetkin? When you see a fighter knocked out clinically, as Whyte was against Alexander, it seems alarm bells about whether it’s safe for him to return so soon within four months.
What Povetkin showed tonight is he can still punch with a lot of power, and he’s infinitely dangerous. Povetkin is 40-years-old, but he can punch like a much younger fighter. Obviously, Povetkin has enough power to knock out Whyte in the rematch and make him and Hearn regret taking the second match.
Does Whyte have enough time to recover?
If Povetkin, 40, had his way, he would move on and look to challenge WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, in a mandated title shot. But Povetkin won’t be able to do that until he faces Whyte, 32, again and defeats him.
“It was a heavy knockdown. He’s going to have to take his rest,” said Hearn about Whyte. “Povetkin is now the [WBA] mandatory, but he won’t get called. The only person that will get called to negotiate the winner of Fury-Wilder was Dillian Whyte.
“So we will excuse that rematch clause and look to make it before the end of the year. Listen, it’s a huge fight, but it’s a very dangerous fight now because back to back defeats for Dillian Whyte puts a different shade on it. I know he’ll come back from this.
“You have to understand the type of individual Dillian Whyte is. He didn’t come up with a big amateur record, and he didn’t get a big deal with a promoter early on,” said Hearn.
We don’t know if Whyte will have enough time to let his brain recover. But if he gets knocked out early by Povetkin next time, you can bet that he and Hearn will receive a lot of criticism.
Did Whyte get too relaxed?
“In heavyweight boxing, one punch can change everything, and tonight one punch changed the fight,” said Hearn to Sky Sports Boxing. “Dillian Whyte was in total control of the fight, and he felt really confident that he would win the fight.
“Did he get complacent? It was great to work from Alexander Povetkin. I spoke to Tony Bellew about that uppercut. Sometimes people feel that Dillian Whyte is vulnerable against it too.
“He slipped inside and hit him with a beautiful uppercut. It was unbelievable. It was a shock. We know how good Alexander Povetkin was, and we know how dangerous he was, but Dillian Whyte had that fight virtually in the bag, but they’re always dangerous.
“These top-class elite heavyweights, and it was just a thrilling knockout on a thrilling night. I’m pretty much-lost fr words I’m walking about speaking to people, and they’re the same,” Hearn said about boxing fans being shocked. We have a rematch clause, and the first thing that Dillian said when he came out was ‘get me that rematch.’
The punch that knocked out Whyte would have done the same thing to him even if he were ready for it; It was the type of shot that would have knocked out anyone in the heavyweight division.
