Whyte's alternative opponents

[oogiebe]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

[nmhz]

All suitable opponents. Would prefer Ortiz or Povetkin though

[tiny_acres]

Breazelle s guaranteed a title shot. It will take big money for him to risk it.
Ortiz would take it and possibly Povetkin
But I expect it to be someone of no real sgnificance

[candyslim]

Yes Breazeale would be the obvious choice if he can be persuaded by a big enough offer. There's the WBC mandatory up for grabs which should guarantee a title shot sometime in the next three years - unless of course it suits Senor Mo to promote someone over the head of their mandatory challenger who has been sat on the couch for the last three years.

Povetkin or Ortiz would make for great fights both very winnable but high risk ... just how Dillian likes 'em.

[ValMar]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

I would like to see Whyte against any of the mentioned opponents (I would add Usyk, surely)..................

[oogiebe]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

I would like to see Whyte against any of the mentioned opponents (I would add Usyk, surely)..................

I'd love to add Usyk, however according to reports, these were the only three fighters discussed.

[ValMar]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

I would like to see Whyte against any of the mentioned opponents (I would add Usyk, surely)..................

I'd love to add Usyk, however according to reports, these were the only three fighters discussed.

Let it be (Usyk) next year, it would be fine.............

[jujigatame]

Whyte/Povetkin would be a great fight. I'd be sure to pick up a DAZN subscription for that one.

Whyte also wouldn't be a bad debut HW fight for Usyk.

[Ruthless-RKO]

So..

Whyte vs. Breazeale, vs. Povetkin, vs. Ortiz

April 20, i’m Guessing will be a PPV then..

[greg]

..Povetkin, Ortiz could be a good choice imo...if I were Usyk I'd think twice at this point...

[joshj909]

In my opinion: Ortiz would be the best for the fans, Breazeale would be the best for his career, Povetkin would be the best for his legacy.

I'm not sure bout the WBO's position at the moment but they said late last year that they might call for a final eliminator which would inevitably include Whyte but the rankings after him are as followed Schwarz, Miller (won't be him), Rivas, Zhang. Whyte vs any of these would not warrant a PPV but he could end up facing one of them if it gets ordered.

FYI

Fairly good Heavyweight card in my opinion. Hunter v Takam could be great.

[J.Rotherhithe]

Some firms have opened betting on a potential fight with Breazeale. Before this absolute farce began at the start of the year, I really wanted to him to fight Ortiz, but sure I read recently he has just announced a fight. I think he can beat all three, but some are more awkward than others. Exciting times for him, despite missing the AJ gig his stock will only rise.

[Cyclops]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

I would like to see Whyte against any of the mentioned opponents (I would add Usyk, surely)..................

I'd love to add Usyk, however according to reports, these were the only three fighters discussed.

Whyte's pretty dismissive of Usyk.

[oogiebe]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

I would like to see Whyte against any of the mentioned opponents (I would add Usyk, surely)..................

I'd love to add Usyk, however according to reports, these were the only three fighters discussed.

Whyte's pretty dismissive of Usyk.

Probably meaning he's avoiding him.

[Rgoodwin]

Ortiz has a fight in March so we can obviously rule him out

[Cyclops]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

I would like to see Whyte against any of the mentioned opponents (I would add Usyk, surely)..................

I'd love to add Usyk, however according to reports, these were the only three fighters discussed.

Whyte's pretty dismissive of Usyk.

Probably meaning he's avoiding him.

I didn’t see or read the interview but they had Whyte up for Bellew of the week for supposedly saying nobody knew who Usyk was and how they wouldn’t be able to sell it to the general public. Usyk-Whyte would easily be the more interesting of all those fights. They’re all probably entertaining but all three mentioned are also-ran KO victims of the big boys and are all another loss or two away from attaining gatekeeper status. I’m more interested in the new generation of emerging heavies developing (Joyce, Hrgovic, Yoka, Dubois, Gorman, the big Nigerian lad, i’ll throw Usyk in there as well). Instead we’re getting this endless recycling of old leftovers fighting each other. It’s getting boring. None of it is PPV worthy, either.

I suppose it’s because none of the new blood (excluding Usyk) is with Hearn. Hopefully with time this sort of thing will start to sink Matchroom and the balance of power will shift.

[Rob3_142]

I'd personally go for Breazeale, for the obvious reason as to straighten up the mandatory status situation for the WBC.

Truth be told, Breazeale would be taking a massive risk to fight Whyte as to lose his world title shot with Wilder if he loses. That being said, there's a few things I could see possibly happening.

First, Breazeale will probably earn more fighting Whyte on PPV in the UK than he would fighting Wilder anywhere, so if the right offer is made he might give up the dream and cash in (still thinking he might win anyway). The only thing I would be concerned on that front is if they stack the card, there may be less money for the main event. With the likes of Parker/Chisora and Browne/Allen already rumoured to be on a 20 April bill, might not leave much more wiggle room financially for a big main event.

Secondly, it is quite possible that with Wilder and Fury destined to link up for the rematch early 2019, means any mandatory for the WBC could/would be pushed either to the back end of 2019 or start of 2020 (unlikely that Wilder will link up with Joshua in 2019 as the WBO will call Joshua's mandatory in September 2019). With that in mind, the WBC may call a final eliminator (Hearn currently in discussions with the WBC). In addition to that, Breazeale is hardly going to sit on his hands for another 6 months, so a fight in April will be well timed, and I am not sure he can really get away with fighting another tin can.

[candyslim]

Upon meeting with Eddie Hearn this past Monday, possible opponents for Dillian Whyte now that it seems he won't be facing AJ in April, are Dominic Breazeale; Luis Ortiz; and Alexander Povetkin.

While this is just talk, I'd love to see Whyte vs Breazeale. Thoughts?

I would like to see Whyte against any of the mentioned opponents (I would add Usyk, surely)..................

I'd love to add Usyk, however according to reports, these were the only three fighters discussed.

Whyte's pretty dismissive of Usyk.

Probably meaning he's avoiding him.

Not a chance. Whyte quite fancies the Usyk fight, he plans on using his bulk to bully him, rough him up, take him out of his comfort zone. He's not foolish enough to think he could outbox Usyk but he figures he wouldn't need to and expressed bafflement at the way Bellew tried to match wits and skills with him.

I don't say he's right in thinking he'd beat him, but tactically he has the right idea. When are people going to realize that Whyte doesn't fear anyone, and there's only one man that he would prefer to steer clear of unless the offer is too good to refuse?

[candyslim]

I'd personally go for Breazeale, for the obvious reason as to straighten up the mandatory status situation for the WBC.

Truth be told, Breazeale would be taking a massive risk to fight Whyte as to lose his world title shot with Wilder if he loses. That being said, there's a few things I could see possibly happening.

First, Breazeale will probably earn more fighting Whyte on PPV in the UK than he would fighting Wilder anywhere, so if the right offer is made he might give up the dream and cash in (still thinking he might win anyway). The only thing I would be concerned on that front is if they stack the card, there may be less money for the main event. With the likes of Parker/Chisora and Browne/Allen already rumoured to be on a 20 April bill, might not leave much more wiggle room financially for a big main event.

Secondly, it is quite possible that with Wilder and Fury destined to link up for the rematch early 2019, means any mandatory for the WBC could/would be pushed either to the back end of 2019 or start of 2020 (unlikely that Wilder will link up with Joshua in 2019 as the WBO will call Joshua's mandatory in September 2019). With that in mind, the WBC may call a final eliminator (Hearn currently in discussions with the WBC). In addition to that, Breazeale is hardly going to sit on his hands for another 6 months, so a fight in April will be well timed, and I am not sure he can really get away with fighting another tin can.

Good post Rob. I don't really understand how Breazeale could justifiably be expected to fight another eliminator when he is already the official mandatory. He hasn't had his title fight through no fault of his own, but when have the World Boxing Conspiracy ever been concerned with fair play, or even abiding by their own rules?

Breazeale should never have been made mandatory, and certainly not as a result of beating Molina FFS, but he is the official mandatory and should have got his shot ahead of Fury.

Now there is still no sign of a title fight this year, so he has to consider his options. He could do a lot worse than a PPV fight in London which might well earn him double or treble what a Wilder fight would pay him.

The WBC are not fit for purpose. They are a parasitic infestation on the sport and what is as sad as it is incredible, is they are not the worst

[joshj909]

Good post Rob. I don't really understand how Breazeale could justifiably be expected to fight another eliminator when he is already the official mandatory. He hasn't had his title fight through no fault of his own, but when have the World Boxing Conspiracy ever been concerned with fair play, or even abiding by their own rules?

Breazeale should never have been made mandatory, and certainly not as a result of beating Molina FFS, but he is the official mandatory and should have got his shot ahead of Fury.

Now there is still no sign of a title fight this year, so he has to consider his options. He could do a lot worse than a PPV fight in London which might well earn him double or treble what a Wilder fight would pay him.

The WBC are not fit for purpose. They are a parasitic infestation on the sport and what is as sad as it is incredible, is they are not the worst

The highlighted bits sums it up. The WBC could rectify their awful decision by sanctioning this as another final eliminator. I'm pretty sure it was only classed as a final eliminator prior to the event because Breazeale is the PBC guy that it looked like Wilder was going to defend against and since that didn't happen it makes little sense. Imagine if Warren has to try and sell Fury v Breazeale later this year

[candyslim]

How does the saying go ... two wrongs don't make a right?

They would have it that they fuctup which is b/s because they were pressured (if it even needed any pressure) to appoint anyone other than Whyte for political reasons. At the time Hearn was trying to get Wilder to fight Whyte in London and his main selling point was "Take this very generous offer now. If you don't you will have to take a lot less money because Dillian is number one in the WBC and will inevitably be made mandatory ".

I think if the scumbags force Breazeale to defend his mandatory position this just compounds their contempt for their own rules. On the other hand if Breazeale opts to fight Whyte voluntarily it wouldn't be unreasonable for a governing body to say "Fair enough, but you appreciate that if you lose, your conqueror replaces you as our mandatory challenger?".

At least that would be perfectly reasonable if the poor sap hadn't already been waiting, what is it, fourteen months now? I'd suggest he sue them for loss of earnings and damage to his physical conditioning, brought about by inactivity resulting from waiting for the call up, only then you look at the Fres Oquendo saga and you think "don't go that route".

[verlichte]

Here are some of my predictions and I expect few of them to be wrong, but who knows?

• Whyte-Breazeale – with the victor in line to face the winner of the rematch between Wilder-Fury
• Chisora-Parker – with the victor facing the winner of Usyk-Povetkin
• Pulev-Helenius – with Pulev engaging in another stay busy bout prior to facing AJ
• Joshua-Miller – with AJ facing Whyte, Pulev or the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch before the end of the year
• Allen-Browne – with the victor facing David Price next. The winner of this three-man round-robin tournament will then be in line to face the likes of Chisora, Miller, Allen or Povetkin (when these four men lose their next bouts, as per the above bullet points)

The ideal scenario for Eddie Hearn is for Whyte to force his way to becoming the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, whilst Joshua continues performing mandatory defences of his titles. Matchroom will then be able to coerce the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch to either agree to facing AJ next or perform a mandatory defence against Dillian.

Usyk needs a couple of bouts at heavyweight prior to exploiting his WBO mandatory challenger status, with victories over the likes of Povetkin, Parker or Miller being considered as an ideal route to take in order to become accustomed to his new heavyweight habitat.

Luis Ortiz keeps getting mentioned by the various boxing media sources, but he’s an Al Haymon/PBC fighter, he's not a mandatory challenger, he's a southpaw, brings very little money to the table and he’s also not affiliated with Matchroom, which means he won’t be considered to face any of the above aforementioned names (unless Wilder defeats Fury and the WBC continues to ignore Dillian Whyte).

So, before the end of the year and going into 2020:
• Dillian Whyte could in in line to face AJ or Tyson Fury during late 2019 or early 2020
• Oleksandr Usyk to earn victories over the likes of Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker during 2019. The Ukraine will then be able to exploit his WBO mandatory title challenger status during 2020
• Lucas Browne to defeat Dave Allen and David Price during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, Jarrell Miller, Alexander Povetkin, Dave Allen and David Price to all lose bouts during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, David Price, Alexander Povetkin to all retire during the current calendar year, with Kubrat Pulev also retiring during 2020
• Dave Allen to remain being a domestic level journeyman
• Jarrell Miller to rebuild his career from late 2019 onwards
• Oleksandr Usyk may be forced to engage in stay busy bouts during 2020 against the likes of Jarrell Miller or Lucas Browne prior to gaining his shot at AJ later on in the same year

[tiny_acres]

Here are some of my predictions and I expect few of them to be wrong, but who knows?

• Whyte-Breazeale – with the victor in line to face the winner of the rematch between Wilder-Fury
• Chisora-Parker – with the victor facing the winner of Usyk-Povetkin
• Pulev-Helenius – with Pulev engaging in another stay busy bout prior to facing AJ
• Joshua-Miller – with AJ facing Whyte, Pulev or the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch before the end of the year
• Allen-Browne – with the victor facing David Price next. The winner of this three-man round-robin tournament will then be in line to face the likes of Chisora, Miller, Allen or Povetkin (when these four men lose their next bouts, as per the above bullet points)

The ideal scenario for Eddie Hearn is for Whyte to force his way to becoming the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, whilst Joshua continues performing mandatory defences of his titles. Matchroom will then be able to coerce the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch to either agree to facing AJ next or perform a mandatory defence against Dillian.

Usyk needs a couple of bouts at heavyweight prior to exploiting his WBO mandatory challenger status, with victories over the likes of Povetkin, Parker or Miller being considered as an ideal route to take in order to become accustomed to his new heavyweight habitat.

Luis Ortiz keeps getting mentioned by the various boxing media sources, but he’s an Al Haymon/PBC fighter, he's not a mandatory challenger, he's a southpaw, brings very little money to the table and he’s also not affiliated with Matchroom, which means he won’t be considered to face any of the above aforementioned names (unless Wilder defeats Fury and the WBC continues to ignore Dillian Whyte).

So, before the end of the year and going into 2020:
• Dillian Whyte could in in line to face AJ or Tyson Fury during late 2019 or early 2020
• Oleksandr Usyk to earn victories over the likes of Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker during 2019. The Ukraine will then be able to exploit his WBO mandatory title challenger status during 2020
• Lucas Browne to defeat Dave Allen and David Price during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, Jarrell Miller, Alexander Povetkin, Dave Allen and David Price to all lose bouts during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, David Price, Alexander Povetkin to all retire during the current calendar year, with Kubrat Pulev also retiring during 2020
• Dave Allen to remain being a domestic level journeyman
• Jarrell Miller to rebuild his career from late 2019 onwards
• Oleksandr Usyk may be forced to engage in stay busy bouts during 2020 against the likes of Jarrell Miller or Lucas Browne prior to gaining his shot at AJ later on in the same year

If 10% of those matches actually happen I'd be impressed

[Rob3_142]

Here are some of my predictions and I expect few of them to be wrong, but who knows?

• Whyte-Breazeale – with the victor in line to face the winner of the rematch between Wilder-Fury
• Chisora-Parker – with the victor facing the winner of Usyk-Povetkin
• Pulev-Helenius – with Pulev engaging in another stay busy bout prior to facing AJ
• Joshua-Miller – with AJ facing Whyte, Pulev or the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch before the end of the year
• Allen-Browne – with the victor facing David Price next. The winner of this three-man round-robin tournament will then be in line to face the likes of Chisora, Miller, Allen or Povetkin (when these four men lose their next bouts, as per the above bullet points)

The ideal scenario for Eddie Hearn is for Whyte to force his way to becoming the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, whilst Joshua continues performing mandatory defences of his titles. Matchroom will then be able to coerce the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch to either agree to facing AJ next or perform a mandatory defence against Dillian.

Usyk needs a couple of bouts at heavyweight prior to exploiting his WBO mandatory challenger status, with victories over the likes of Povetkin, Parker or Miller being considered as an ideal route to take in order to become accustomed to his new heavyweight habitat.

Luis Ortiz keeps getting mentioned by the various boxing media sources, but he’s an Al Haymon/PBC fighter, he's not a mandatory challenger, he's a southpaw, brings very little money to the table and he’s also not affiliated with Matchroom, which means he won’t be considered to face any of the above aforementioned names (unless Wilder defeats Fury and the WBC continues to ignore Dillian Whyte).

So, before the end of the year and going into 2020:
• Dillian Whyte could in in line to face AJ or Tyson Fury during late 2019 or early 2020
• Oleksandr Usyk to earn victories over the likes of Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker during 2019. The Ukraine will then be able to exploit his WBO mandatory title challenger status during 2020
• Lucas Browne to defeat Dave Allen and David Price during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, Jarrell Miller, Alexander Povetkin, Dave Allen and David Price to all lose bouts during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, David Price, Alexander Povetkin to all retire during the current calendar year, with Kubrat Pulev also retiring during 2020
• Dave Allen to remain being a domestic level journeyman
• Jarrell Miller to rebuild his career from late 2019 onwards
• Oleksandr Usyk may be forced to engage in stay busy bouts during 2020 against the likes of Jarrell Miller or Lucas Browne prior to gaining his shot at AJ later on in the same year

I certainly admire your forethought, but quite frankly about 80% of that requires a serious leap of faith. You've kind of recycled a handful of fighters in a series of round robins, when the division is much wider.

[verlichte]

Here are some of my predictions and I expect few of them to be wrong, but who knows?

• Whyte-Breazeale – with the victor in line to face the winner of the rematch between Wilder-Fury
• Chisora-Parker – with the victor facing the winner of Usyk-Povetkin
• Pulev-Helenius – with Pulev engaging in another stay busy bout prior to facing AJ
• Joshua-Miller – with AJ facing Whyte, Pulev or the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch before the end of the year
• Allen-Browne – with the victor facing David Price next. The winner of this three-man round-robin tournament will then be in line to face the likes of Chisora, Miller, Allen or Povetkin (when these four men lose their next bouts, as per the above bullet points)

The ideal scenario for Eddie Hearn is for Whyte to force his way to becoming the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, whilst Joshua continues performing mandatory defences of his titles. Matchroom will then be able to coerce the winner of the Wilder-Fury rematch to either agree to facing AJ next or perform a mandatory defence against Dillian.

Usyk needs a couple of bouts at heavyweight prior to exploiting his WBO mandatory challenger status, with victories over the likes of Povetkin, Parker or Miller being considered as an ideal route to take in order to become accustomed to his new heavyweight habitat.

Luis Ortiz keeps getting mentioned by the various boxing media sources, but he’s an Al Haymon/PBC fighter, he's not a mandatory challenger, he's a southpaw, brings very little money to the table and he’s also not affiliated with Matchroom, which means he won’t be considered to face any of the above aforementioned names (unless Wilder defeats Fury and the WBC continues to ignore Dillian Whyte).

So, before the end of the year and going into 2020:
• Dillian Whyte could in in line to face AJ or Tyson Fury during late 2019 or early 2020
• Oleksandr Usyk to earn victories over the likes of Alexander Povetkin and Joseph Parker during 2019. The Ukraine will then be able to exploit his WBO mandatory title challenger status during 2020
• Lucas Browne to defeat Dave Allen and David Price during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, Jarrell Miller, Alexander Povetkin, Dave Allen and David Price to all lose bouts during 2019
• Dereck Chisora, David Price, Alexander Povetkin to all retire during the current calendar year, with Kubrat Pulev also retiring during 2020
• Dave Allen to remain being a domestic level journeyman
• Jarrell Miller to rebuild his career from late 2019 onwards
• Oleksandr Usyk may be forced to engage in stay busy bouts during 2020 against the likes of Jarrell Miller or Lucas Browne prior to gaining his shot at AJ later on in the same year

I certainly admire your forethought, but quite frankly about 80% of that requires a serious leap of faith. You've kind of recycled a handful of fighters in a series of round robins, when the division is much wider.

I’ve focused on Matchroom promoted bouts, since we possess far more information about Hearn’s roadmap than we do for other boxing content providers.