Dillian Whyte to make no changes ahead of rematch against Alexander Povetkin
- Planet Sport writer
- 6 October 2020
The "Bodysnatcher" is eager to avenge his defeat and become WBC mandatory challenger once again, although he admitted he won't stand in the way of a Joshua-Fury unification.
Dillian Whyte says that he won't be making any changes to his training team ahead of a rematch with the hard-hitting Russian Alexander Povetkin.
Whyte feels that his team did a bang-up job of getting him into the best shape of his career for the first fight against Povetkin.
The British heavyweight says he does not need to look for excuses and believes he has the right people in his corner to whip him into shape for the rematch.
Whyte tasted the second professional defeat of his career with British foe Anthony Joshua being his other in 2015.
Dillian Whyte will get the chance to avenge his defeat to Alexander Povetkin on Sky Sports Box Office next month
Whyte happy with his team
Whyte was quick to force a rematch for a fight that he felt he was winning before Povetkin caught him sending him to the canvas with a wicked left-uppercut.
"I don't look for excuses," Whyte told Sky Sports.
"Listen, my coaching team did what they were supposed to do. They got me to the fight injury free, they got me to the fight in shape. We were boxing well, we were winning rounds, we were fighting one of the best [opponents] I have fought in a long time."
Whyte insists that he isn't dwelling on the defeat and is confident of avenging the loss on 21 November.
The 32-year-old put the loss to Povetkin down as just one of those things that happens in heavyweight boxing.
"Early doors I was making him miss," Whyte added.
"The punches that he usually lands, I was making him miss, but that's the way it goes sometimes. It's boxing, you can win 11-and-a-half rounds and get stopped in the last 10 seconds.
"The team has done a great job, they got me in a good place. From what they got me from to what I was in Saudi. They got me down to 17 stone plus, we were happy.
"Credit due to Povetkin, fair play to him, he threw a good punch and it landed and what more can I say. Now we go into camp, we put it right, we come back again. I believe I beat Povetkin nine times out of 10."
Whyte had been the mandatory challenger for Tyson Fury's WBC title before losing that status to Povetkin. Should he defeat the Russian he is likely to regain that position, but has indicated that he won't make life difficult for the Fury camp who hope to finalise arrangements for a unification bout with Joshua.
