The loudest man in heavyweight boxing at the moment has to be Dillian Whyte with the 31-year-old accusing most of the division of running scared by not agreeing to fight him. A lot of what Whyte is saying can be written off as boxing trash talk, but in the case of Deontay Wilder and what he has had to say about the current WBC heavyweight title-holder, does Whyte actually have a valid point?
When you consider that Whyte has been the mandatory challenger to Deontay Wilder’s WBC heavyweight belt for over 600 days and has yet to be given the chance to step in the ring with him, you do come away thinking that there could well be something that Wilder sees in a bout with Whyte that scares him.
#TilThisDay✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/nZbnY8Z4js
— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) June 9, 2019
But then you hear Wilder’s side of the story where he says he gave Whyte four chances to make the fight happen by advising him on signing a network deal with an American broadcaster that would have made the fight possible. Wilder also suggested that if Whyte decided to fight Luis Ortiz and beat the Cuban boxer then he would grant him a fight straight away. Whyte decided not to fight Ortiz and that’s why Wilder is saying he passed up the opportunity to fight, and may not have been that serious about the idea all along.
The thing is, though, and despite Wilder’s reasoning, it does come across like the Alabama native is creating extra terms and conditions that Whyte has to fulfil even though he is the mandatory challenger and has been for over 500 days. The governing body should have stepped in a while ago and made Wilder take the fight instead of letting him make up his own separate criteria.
Could there have been more that Whyte could have done earlier on to make the fight happen? If we’re being overly critical, possibly yes, given the heavyweight would have been slightly wary of Wilder having recently been knocked out by Anthony Joshua at the end of 2015. After all, Wilder averages a 97.5% knockout ratio in his fights and has administered a frightening 20 knockouts in the first rounds of fights.
Three years ago those would have been stats that concerned Whyte but since his loss to Joshua, the 31-year-old has gone on to win his next eight bouts and if you were to speak to anyone that has watched him over the last 24 months they will tell you, Whyte is now a dangerous man who has addressed many of his previous faults. It does feel like Wilder may be the one who is avoiding Whyte and that may not be the best plan of action in the long run.
Really, Wilder will want to be careful about how he treats Whyte now that his rematch with Tyson Fury is scheduled for February next year. Many punters feel Fury has Wilder’s number and a quick look at the latest boxing matches odds will show Fury is at a mere 8/15 to take Wilder’s WBC heavyweight title and if he does, it will be the American who will be left out in the cold and needing favours off guys like Whyte, who he has blanked for two years.
YESSSS Finally after nearly 600 days as the WBC number one I got my hands on the World Title belt …. Shame it’s the great @frankbrunoboxer belt when am I getting my shot at @bronzebomber @wbcboxing @wbcmoro #600days pic.twitter.com/ltV9XB7gFx
— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) June 9, 2019
The wheel is round in the world of boxing and if Whyte can remain unbeaten then he will get his chance within the next 12- 18 months.
The only danger is that the Jamaican-born Whyte comes unstuck in the future before he gets his deserved chance which would be a bit of a travesty given how long he has been waiting. On the other hand, if he is good enough he will be able to negotiate just a few more tests before his chance at making history arrives.
