Dillian Whyte's five-fight form guide ahead of facing Tyson Fury at Wembley
- Lewis Oldham
- 18 April 2022
Here’s a look back at The Body Snatcher’s last five fights before his long-awaited world title shot at Wembley against Tyson Fury on Saturday, including two rematch wins.
Dillian Whyte finally gets a shot at a world title when he faces WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in front of 94,000 at Wembley on April 23.
The challenger is Fury's mandatory. Given the hostility between Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren and Bob Arum, it comes as no surprise that they could not agree on a deal before the bout went to purse bids.
Warren earned the rights to broadcast the fight as his £31m bid bettered Hearn's £24m offer. The 80/20 split makes it so Whyte will pocket £5.6m, while Fury will take away £22.6m. The winner on the night will earn an extra £3.1m.
With all the tickets quickly sold, the interest in this fight is clear. This was done in spite of Whyte's lack of promotion.
He did not turn up at the first press conference and he has been on radio silence in recent months.
You can argue whether this is good or bad, but it is clear that it has made Fury's team sweat, considering they have 'replacement on standby' in case Whyte no shows.
After losing to Anthony Joshua in 2015, Whyte has been working tirelessly to earn a world title fight. He would be a fool if he lets politics get in the way of his attempt to dethrone Fury.
Whyte's journey to this point has certainly been a rollercoaster. To relive some of it, we at Planet Sport have looked back at his last five fights.
Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin 2 (March 2021)
*When* Whyte steps into the ring at Wembley, he will have been out of the ring for 13 months.
The Brit was scheduled to face Otto Wallin at the O2 Arena last October, but Whyte had to pull out through injury.
Seven months earlier, he rematched Povetkin in the unfamiliar surroundings of Gibraltar. Whyte's Russian opponent was 41 at the time of this contest and he was well past his peak - and he had just recovered from Covid-19.
That showed on the night as 'The Body Snatcher' was able to dismantle his older opponent. Whyte unloaded on Povetkin towards the end of the fourth round. He landed two heavy right hands that rocked the 'Russian Vityaz'.
The exclamation point came through the next punch as Whyte floored Povetkin with a vicious left hook that sent the latter into retirement.
Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin (August 2020)
When Whyte first faced Povetkin, not many would have predicted there to be a rematch. The first bout took place at Fight Camp in Eddie Hearn's back garden - or as he likes to call it, 'Matchroom Square Garden'.
It was the final fight of a three-week strong run at Matchroom headquarters. These nights garnered a lot of praise from boxing fans and Whyte-Povetkin closed the show in August 2020.
Whyte was placed as Fury's mandatory before facing Povetkin and he held the WBC interim title, so he could not afford any slip-ups.
Everything looked to be going to plan for Whyte in the early going. He was in control of the fight, winning the first three rounds comfortably. Povetkin seemed to be in major trouble in the fourth as he was dropped twice by the Brit.
With the odds stacked against him, Povetkin went for one last hail Mary. His fierce uppercut ripped Whyte to pieces as he plummeted to the canvas.
From being one punch away from retirement, against all odds, the veteran became the new WBC interim champion.
You just can't write it. That's heavyweight boxing for you, folks.
Whyte vs Mariusz Wach (December 2019)
Before stepping in with Povetkin, Whyte was forced into an eight-month layoff as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
His career was thrown into doubt before facing Wach. After his previous bout, his drug tests showed inconclusive results so he was suspended by the WBC.
This was lifted at the start of December as Whyte was cleared of any wrongdoing by UK Anti-Doping.
His return fight was against former world title challenger Wach on the Andy Ruiz vs Anthony Joshua 2 undercard in Saudi Arabia.
Dillian Whyte vs Dillian Whyte vs
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 26, 2021
Wach, Dec 2019 Povetkin, Today
271.1lbs 247.2lbs pic.twitter.com/NxN19uu0II
Whyte is almost always in entertaining fights given his no-nonsense attacking mindset. Though the Wach fight was a rare dud on his resume.
The Body Snatcher won the ten-rounder comfortably by unanimous decision. But he was not as his slick best.
The stress of the previous few months clearly had an impact as Whyte came in heavier than usual. He would have been pleased to get this fight out of the way to move on to bigger and better things.
Whyte vs Oscar Rivas (July 2019)
The Body Snatcher eyed a rematch with Joshua in the summer of 2019 but this fell through amid the champion's supposed 'lowball' offer.
Instead, a fight with Dominic Breazeale was discussed but he ended up facing Rivas for the vacant WBC interim heavyweight title.
The Columbian was a top ten ranked fighter in all four governing bodies and he was seen as a serious test for world title-chasing Whyte.
The Brit used his jab expertly as he kept control of his opponent for large portions of the bout. Rivas showed how dangerous he can be though, dropping Whyte at the start of the ninth after landing a big uppercut.
The home fighter recovered and he landed some big shots of his own as the entertaining bout went the distance.
Whyte triumphed via unanimous decision after a hard-fought twelve rounds. The judges scored it 116-111, 115-112 and 115-112 in his favour.
Whyte vs Derek Chisora 2 (December 2018)
The domestic rivals first fought at Manchester Arena in December 2016. It proved to be a thriller, that Whyte won via split decision.
There was a demand for the rematch and the bad blood between the pair made it so it was another thrilling fight.
Coming off wins over Malcolm, Tann, Robert Helenius, Lucas Browne and Joseph Parker, Whyte battled the older Chisora at London's O2 Arena the second time around.
By now, fight fans know what you are going to get from Chisora. The resolute Brit receives punishment, but he will take it on the chin and keep throwing.
Chisora had to show his heart in the rematch, with Whyte having a lot of success in the early going.
The old hand was warned a couple of times for low blows on Whyte, who was clearly the better fighter on the night.
The Body Snatcher needed this kind of performance after the inconclusive finish to their first meeting.
He was able to get the stoppage in the eleventh round. After Chisora landed a right hand, Whyte caught his opponent with a left hook flush on the chin that left 'Del Boy' sprawled out on the canvas.
