It’s been more than 1,000 days that Dillian Whyte has sat atop of the WBC’s ratings.
If he gets beyond Alexander Povetkin this Saturday, he is due to fight the winner of the third contest between WBC champion Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
Understandably, Whyte remains skeptical, firmly in the ‘believe it when he sees it’ school of thought having waited so long for his chance.
It seems as though we say it every time he fights, that he’s gambling a seemingly eventually guaranteed shot at Fury by rolling the dice. And for that many salute him. But there are many who don’t. Some thought he should have taken the Wembley rematch with Joshua when he opted to drive a harder bargain and it fell through. Some felt the way he parted company with former trainer Mark Tibbs could have been handled differently.
This is boxing, after all but here we are, Whyte-Povetkin for the WBC’s Diamond belt is upon us.
It’s the first big Box Office fight since coronavirus decimated the boxing diary and it brings the curtain down on Eddie Hearn’s Fight Camp series, four weekends of fights that has largely been well-received.
It should also be a marker for the next round of big events in British boxing, a gutcheck to see whether the pay-per-view market still exists with businesses, big and small, going to the wall – left, right and center.
And what’s the appetite like for big fights and marquee shows with no crowds?
With lockdown over in most places, will many people actually now stay in to watch a fight?
There’s been a real focus on viewing figures since boxing’s return, and it’s clearly still tough out there. There haven’t been many leading names in real tests and in many ways this could make or break the boxing calendar year.
Naysayers at the start – as they always do – condemned the card as not worthy of being on pay-per-view but the addition of the Katie Taylor-Delfine Persoon rematch of one of the fights of last year changed the opinion of plenty.
Of course, there’s no way you could pay Povetkin or Whyte – or perhaps even Taylor – their usual wages without taking it to box office with absolutely no live money coming in from the gate. Not one penny. It’s simply not doable.
And when you take the politics out, be it previous indiscretions, viewing figures, paycheques and so forth, you are left with a fight – a real fight. Whyte is the favourite. Povetkin is 40-years-old and drew with Michael Hunter in his last bout, with many thinking he was shopworn rather than giving Hunter the credit he was due for being a handful and giving Povetkin nightmares with his movement.
Whyte’s high-profile wins over Derek Chisora, Joseph Parker and Oscar Rivas came before a lacklustre marking time victory over Mariusz Wach, accepted while he was heavy and with only around three weeks notice. That was in Saudi Arabia on the same bill as Povetkin-Hunter and Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz.
This fight with Povetkin is not a marking time fight, far from it.
Povetkin looks sleek and seems motivated. A loss – certainly a bad one – could well spend the end of his 15-year career.
Povetkin has only lost to Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua. Whyte’s sole defeat came to Joshua. It’s been pitched in the UK as a battle of left hookers but it’s more than that.
Whyte was a former kickboxer who, despite so few amateur credentials in just a handful of fights (albeit including a win over Joshua), has come good, while Povetkin was a decorated fighter in the unpaid code, winning gold in the 2004 Olympics.
The stage is set at the venue that’s been coined Matchroom Square Garden, the lawn behind the enormous Matchroom Headquarters.
There will be fireworks when the fighters make their entrance and the common school of thought is they will be replicated in the ring.
Whether you think the fight is pay-per-view ‘worthy’ or not, it’s an important fight for the business and the sport of boxing. It is important it delivers. It’s come with the tag, Maximum Violence. If it’s as exciting as advertised it can lift up those who will see its success. Advertisers, promoters, managers and fighters will be able to green light more big fights, the only question remaining will be whether pay-per-view is the only vehicle that can be used to drive them for the foreseeable future.
As for the heavyweight division, how will that shake out with the astronomical money the likes of Joshua, Fury and Whyte earn without a packed arena or stadium? Will we see them back in action this year, or next? Will Whyte finally get his shot and slam the brakes on those preliminary Fury-Joshua talks that were made public several weeks ago? This fight could, in one way or another, give us the answers.
