Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte meet in their fascinating return fight this Saturday, the rematch having undergone both a postponement and a change in venue. The two dangerous punchers will now fight again in Gibraltar and both men know they need to win if they are to be able to carry on fighting at elite level; Whyte especially. Whyte will find himself in a terrible position if he loses to Povetkin a second time and it would be an extremely hard rebuilding process he would have to undertake should the worst happen. Povetkin, on the other hand, may decide to call it a career and go out on his own terms (with a good payday pocketed) should he lose the rematch. This would all depend on just how Povetkin lost; if it came via a close or in any way controversial decision or stoppage, who knows, maybe the rubber-match would be a real possibility.
So who does win on Saturday night? As all fans recall, Whyte, the much younger man, was not only winning the first fight back in August, he was absolutely dominating the action. Whyte, 27-2(18) had Povetkin on the deck twice and he seemed to be just a minute or so away from sealing the deal and closing the show. But then disaster struck by way of the Russian veteran’s power packed left uppercut, the shot landing clean on Whyte’s exposed jaw, sending him down and out. Depending on your opinion, Povetkin either got lucky or he was successful in setting a trap, one that Whyte fell into. Whyte is adamant it was the former, while he is also insistent that he will not make the mistake of not finishing Povetkin off should he knock him down in the rematch.
“I’m going to get the win and get the win in style,” Whyte told The Telegraph. “I’m definitely going for the knockout this time, 100 percent. All hell will break loose if I knock him down again this time, trust me. I can beat him. I was beating him before. I just want to get in there and put the wrong right straightaway.”
Could it be that Whyte will be too anxious, too overeager to get the KO win in the rematch? Povetkin, 36-2-1(25) is a very smart fighter and if Whyte does overcommit, the older man by almost a full decade could very well make him pay again. On the other hand, could we see a far more cautious Whyte, even a gun-shy Dillian Whyte? Whyte claims the fifth round KO defeat he suffered has had no lasting effects on him, mentally or physically, but he won’t know for sure until he gets back in the ring with the former WBA heavyweight champ. Is Whyte defensively sound enough to avoid all of Povetkin’s shots? Did Povetkin score his last big win in August? Who will feel the pressure the most in the rematch? There are a bunch of questions going into Saturday night’s fight, that’s for sure.
It seems a distance fight is not too likely (unless Whyte does look to box cautiously, in a boring style even, his thinking being that getting the win is all that counts), with a second KO instead very possible one way or the other. As was the case in the first fight, Whyte is the betting favorite, but where are YOU putting your money? Would it be a shock if Whyte KO’d Povetkin? No. Would it be a shock if Povetkin repeated his KO win over Whyte? No. It’s that kind of fight. It might even come down to which fighter has the better good luck on the night wins the fight.
Going out on Sky Sports Box-Office, Povetkin-Whyte II should pull in a good number of paying fight fans. This is a must-win fight for Whyte and it’s also a must-watch fight for us fans.
