Boxing News at Five: Whyte wants Povetkin in April, Brook says Khan won’t fight him because he’s British

Dillian Whyte

IF it seems like Dillian Whyte is approaching the second or third chapter of his professional career it’s for good reason.

Whyte, who has suffered not one but two delays in his career due to performance-enhancing drug-related issues (the first of which led to a two-year ban, while the second was cleared up in December), believes he should have at least fought for a version of a world title by now, but remains, as of January 2020, still in search of his shot.

To this end, he will have to make do with fighting fellow contenders, one of whom, Alexander Povetkin, is apparently his first-choice opponent for an April 18 date in the UK.

“If he wants it, he can get it,” Whyte told Sky Sports. “It’s going to be a tear-up, because he is not really a mover and I’m not really a mover. He’s a come forward fighter and I come forward.

“We’re going to have a scrap. Povetkin comes to fight. He doesn’t come to mess about. I’m the same, so let’s get it.

“Let’s see who has got the best left hook around.”

Povetkin and Whyte competed on the same card in December 7 when out in Saudi Arabia trying to keep their careers on track. Whyte, seemingly affected by ring rust and heaviness, laboured to a decision win over Mariusz Wach, while Povetkin scraped a draw against the division’s darkhorse Michael Hunter.

It would now make sense for the two of them to meet at some point in 2020. Equally sensible is a plan for Whyte to box three times this year.

“I’ve got a meeting with Eddie on Tuesday, so we’re going to see, because there are a lot of fights happening and stuff,” said the 31-year-old. “We’ve got to be mindful of the date and timing and stuff, so I need to speak to him to get a full idea of his plans. We’ll meet and see what the plans are and then we’ll make a decision.

“I’m not going to wait another 800 days [for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder]. What for?”

Whether the blame should be aimed at Deontay Wilder or UK Anti-Doping, Dillian Whyte is done waiting.

dillian whyte
Whyte is back fighting again

Chances are, if Kell Brook wasn’t British, a fight against Amir Khan would already have taken place.

That’s Brook’s verdict anyway, one he is espousing to anybody who brings up Khan’s name ahead of his February 8 fight against Mark De Luca in Sheffield. According to Brook, Khan’s resistance to fighting him owes everything to the fact they have built their rivalry for years, they both come from the same country, and defeat, because of these factors, would be the toughest pill to swallow.

“Amir knows where I am. I’m here,” Brook said. “If he wants to fight, it’s not hard to make. I’m not being awkward, and the world knows that.

“He’s reluctant because we’re both British and, with him saying how easy he can beat me, he wouldn’t be able to walk the streets knowing he’d been pasted all over the ring by me.

“He’s been saying for years that he will do this, that and other to me, so when I put him flat on his face, he wouldn’t be able to walk around the streets. It would do him in.

“He can lose to Americans but losing to a Brit, given the history we’ve got, that’s going to hurt. That’s the major issue for him.

“I want to fight him, but I don’t really want to hear his name anymore. I want to fight him and if it happens, it happens.”

If even Brook, now 33, no longer wants to hear Amir Khan’s name mentioned in relation to them fighting – when both still stand to make millions from such an event – you can only imagine how sick and tired the rest of us are of hearing about Brook-Khan/Khan-Brook.

kell brook
Brook believes Khan is still running from him (Action Images/Craig Brough)

Share Page