Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who co-promotes WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, believes Dillian Whyte spent too much time looking ahead and not enough time concentrating on Alexander Povetkin.
Whyte was the mandatory challenger to Fury's title.
Pursuant to a WBC order, Whyte was a due a mandatory shot at the world title by February 2021 - which in turn created a big hurdle in finalizing a potential 2021 unification between Fury and WBO, WBA, IBO, IBF champion Anthony Joshua.
But that hurdle was squashed, after Povetkin brutally knocked out Whyte in the fifth round of their pay-per-view main event on Saturday night at Matchroom's Fight Camp in Brentwood.
Whyte was well ahead after dropping Povetkin twice in the fourth. The Russian veteran landed a perfect uppercut that knocked Whyte out cold in the following round.
Arum explained that Whyte was doing too much talking about a mandatory crack at Fury.
"These are heavyweights. They can't go into a fight thinking ahead to another fighter that they're having, they have to concentrate completely on the fight they are having. Dillian Whyte got what he deserved.... the horrible things that he was saying about Tyson Fury, how he was pestering the WBC about his mandatory position and trying to break up a potential Fury-Joshua fight down the road. Eddie Hearn, of course, flapping his mouth didn't help," Arum told IFL TV.
"But the WBC held their ground, because they knew that Whyte was in a difficult fight with a tried and true professional like Povetkin, and they waited to see what would happen after that fight."
If Joshua overcomes mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev, and Fury defeats Deontay Wilder in their December trilogy fight, then Arum believes the two champions will collide in 2021.
"Again, if Kubrat Pulev doesn't beat Joshua, which I believe he will but if he doesn't and Joshua wins, and Tyson Fury is able to again face Wilder and beat Wilder, then we can look forward without any kind obstacles to a Fury and Joshua fight, which is the obviously the biggest heavyweight match of our time," Arum said.
"Neither guy, this should be a lesson to both of them.... don't look ahead to a future opponent and concentrate on the guy you are fighting."
Given that a single punch can change an entire fight in the heavyweight division, Arum was not surprised with Saturday's outcome.
"They are heavyweights and they punch well. And Povetkin, he always punched well. He didn't have the greatest chin in the world, he doesn't have the greatest stamina in the world, but he is a tried and true professional. But if you let your guard down and you become overconfident, you are going to get knocked out like Dillian Whyte got knocked out," Arum said.
"Dillian Whyte did no one any favors by talking about Tyson Fury, talking about fighting Tyson Fury, when he was fighting Povetkin. I think Matchroom was selling the fight on Sky on pay-per-view and I think the numbers are not very good, because you don't promote a fight by talking about fighting the next guy. You promote a fight by talking about fighting the guy who's in front of you."
