a93 wrote: ↑18 Aug 2020, 17:15
Not sure where Whyte has got this rep from. He turned down the Joshua fight and eliminators with Pulev and Ortiz. His last 5 of Browne, Chisora, Parker, Rivas and Wach isn’t much to write home about IMO.
Ok I'll bite. Let's analyse this shall we ...
Firstly Whyte has been the WBC number one for a ridiculous amount of time without getting a title shot. People say "Ah but he wasn't mandatory all that time". That's true but only because WeBeCorrupt broke their own rules by matching their number 6 Breazeale with the unranked Molina for the mandatory slot totally ignoring the rights of their long-term number one contender. WTF was Molina getting a chance for? A man known as "The drummer boy" presumably because like a drum he is regarded as an instrument for beating on.
How many guys in Whyte's position are going to risk their (very hard earned) guaranteed title-shot by taking on a live opponent, never mind a fading but still world-class fighter like Povetkin, when they don't need to?
Povetkin broke Joshua's nose and boxed rings around him until his age and AJ's power punches caught up with him. Pulev is a mandatory challenger. When was the last time he fought an elite fighter, in fact when in his long career has he ever beaten an elite opponent? Arguably his best win was Chisora whom Whyte has beaten twice. The guy has built a career out of fighting fringe-contenders.
You say he ducked Joshua. I don't think the fight suited either of them at that time. Joshua was looking to break out in the States once Wilder wasn't interested in taking the 19th April date. A reputedly low-ball offer was made to Whyte and rejected but look at it from Whyte's point of view. He's not scared of Joshua but he's intelligent enough to know he could lose like he did before. He was starting out on the road to becoming a very wealthy man courtesy of his Sky PPV status. What if he lost, would he still be a PPV star? Maybe he would now that Sky know he is very popular and pulls in the punters but maybe not then.
Whyte decided not to pursue that route. Like Tyson Fury, Whyte identified Wilder as a very beatable opponent and felt that if he could get Wilder in the ring he would beat him and be able to face Joshua in a unification extravaganza which would make him very rich win or lose. Unfortunately Fury was of the same ambition and he had an advantage over Whyte in that he was looking extremely vulnerable and a much more appealing potential victim for Haymon and Finkel. so he was permitted by Haymon/Sulaiman to jump ahead of the mandatory challenger.
You say he ducked Ortiz. Whyte had already more than earned his title shot and was infuriated by the WBC putting up yet another hoop for him to jump through. I believe Whyte and Hearn when they say that Ortiz has thrice turned down offers to face Whyte. Whyte clearly isn't scared of Povetkin - a younger fighter whose achievements in boxing dwarf those of Ortiz - why would he be scared of Ortiz? We found out how trustworthy is the word of Ortiz when he turned down £7m or was it 8 to face Joshua and was forced to retract his claim that Hearn had sent him a low-ball offer, when Hearn threatened to publish the correspondence.
You say he ducked Pulev: Why would Whyte want to fly to Sofia to earn comparative peanuts in order to win the right to get 25% of the purse as mandatory for Joshua? Whyte and Joshua are stablemates. They both want to fight each other at a time when it's convenient to both. Whyte will expect to do a lot better than 25% of the purse. Miller didn't want the opportunity either and it would have been a much more attractive opportunity for him. As it was Whyte faced Joseph Parker instead, for vastly more money than he would have got in Bulgaria. It helped him cement his PPV status and Parker is a much more credible opponent than Pulev anyway yet still people talk crap about him ducking Pulev.
Ok so his last opponents. We can ignore Wach. Whyte was way out of shape and just needed a keep-busy fight.
Rivas was undefeated and had recently beaten Bryant Jennings - Luis Ortiz's best win by a country-mile and the man Ortiz has built his bogeyman reputation on. Rivas is is a fierce little bstrd and had Dillian on the deck. I don't see a stampede of heavyweights rushing to fight Rivas.
Chisora: "Loser to the stars" as a fine former poster used to call him. Chisora hasn't beaten any top heavyweight and is vulnerable to anyone who can box and move behind the jab, but if you aren't a mover and you stand and trade with him, he's your worst nightmare. Whyte is adding movement to his game as we saw in the second fight but the first was a war.
He is never going to find Chisora an easy opponent like Fury did, it's a question of styles. Chisora was and is a formidable opponent for a fighter like Whyte.
Parker: Was a former world title holder who had got a decision over Andy Ruiz Jnr. and only lost one fight and that was against Joshua. The guy is still one of the best heavies around in my opinion but he needs to pull his finger out and start reminding people of that. He was expected to be a really tough opponent for Whyte and that's how it proved. It was seen as a huge risk, a genuine 50/50 and Whyte was lucky to emerge with the win.
Browne: Ok he was sh*t but Dillian didn't know he was going to be. Browne was a former world champion of sorts and was unbeaten. He had a come-from-behind knock-out of Ruslan Chagaev in his own backyard. The fight looked a genuine 50/50 and as a Dillian Whyte fan, I was worried for him. You might now sneer but facing Browne was a very bold move and not one that most heavies were contemplating.
Sorry for the length, it's hard to cover all the points and be brief. I do hope you might have a better insight into Dillian Whyte's rep now.
