DILLIAN WHYTE has waited and waited in an era when patience is not a virtue, it’s unnecessary. Plenty of fighters have strolled, some even fallen, into world title shots while Whyte has battled a string of decent opponents to earn what is yet to come.
Beginning with a December 2016 points win over Dereck Chisora, Whyte has gone on to defeat Robert Helenius (pts 12), Lucas Browne (ko 6), Joseph Parker (pts 12), Chisora (ko 11), and Oscar Rivas (pts 12). Not quite Murderers’ Row but without question it represents the best heavyweight CV outside of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
The run has not been without problems. Inside the ring one
could make a case for Chisora winning their first encounter and Parker had
Whyte out on his feet in the dying embers of their swashbuckling firefight.
Outside, he’s battled with the World Boxing Council to enforce his title
challenge, he opted not to rematch Anthony Joshua in a title fight – always claiming
the offer to be lipservice – and the Rivas victory was tainted with a now
infamous run-in with UKAD last year. Cleared in December the day before he
outpointed Mariusz Wach, he is now preparing to take on Alexander Povetkin in another
(on paper) tough encounter.
We compare Whyte’s march with other countrymen who were
campaigning for world heavyweight title shots.
LENNOX LEWIS
THE 1988 Olympic super-heavyweight champion from Canada took
a while to be accepted as the heavyweight contender from England. Born in West
Ham in 1965, Lewis’ roots were in the UK and the path to world championship
glory seemingly more straightforward here than in his adopted home.
Promoted by Frank Maloney, Lewis’ potential was obvious from
the start. But he certainly didn’t have an easy ride en route to becoming the first
British-born world heavyweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons the previous
century.
– Gary Mason (w rsf 7, 1991)
Though already European champion (after thrashing Frenchman, Jean
Chanet), there were plenty who thought that Lewis was going in too soon with British
and Commonwealth boss, Gary Mason.
Mason, 35-0 and built like a tree trunk, was highly ranked by
all sanctioning bodies and, at the very least, matches up to Dereck Chisora in
terms of ability.
Lewis encountered several problems but came through a tense
encounter in seven rounds.
– Mike Weaver (w ko 6, 1991)
By the time Weaver – a former WBA titlist – took on Lewis in an
outdoor ring in Las Vegas, he was barely even a gatekeeper anymore.
Not a soul expected him to win. He was canny to the point of
not being bombed out early but this was a one-sided mauling that Lewis finished
in the sixth with a savage final blow.
All in all, though, it was a step back from the Mason test.
– Glenn McCrory (w ko 2, 1991)
Though this generated interest – McCrory trash-talked his way
into this domestic clash and could boast being a former IBF titlist, albeit at
cruiserweight – it was another fight for Lennox where he was an overwhelming
favourite to win.
Lewis was in a particularly nasty mood. He dropped McCrory
with a right uppercut before finishing the job with a right cross. Again, this
was nothing compared to the threat Mason posed.
– Levi Billups (w pts 10, 1992)
After trouncing a washed-up Tyrell Biggs, Lewis took on the
robust Levi Billups. Though dismissed by Michael Moorer in three, Billups found
himself with a fringe world ranking after outscoring an ageing Bonecrusher Smith.
The American did his job, survived the full distance and thus allowed Lewis to go
10 rounds for the first time. However, this was not exactly Whyte emerging from
a crisis to defeat Joseph Parker. Nor were the subsequent hammerings of Derek
Williams and Mike Dixon.
– Razor Ruddock (w ko 2, 1992)
This is arguably the toughest pre-title reign test of any British
world heavyweight champion. Ruddock had KO’d Michael Dokes, Bonecrusher Smith,
Greg Page and gone just under 19 rounds with a near-peak Mike Tyson. Many favoured
Ruddock, who had beaten Lewis as an amateur and must be considered superior to
anything Whyte has yet come up against, but Lennox made a mockery of such
wisdom.
In one of the best performances of Lewis’ whole career he
walked through Ruddock in two rounds in a final WBC eliminator. Riddick Bowe
then famously ditched that title before it was awarded to Lewis by default.
THE VERDICT: That the Mason and Ruddock bout were genuine 50/50s against established world contenders going in (only Whyte’s win over Parker could truly be labelled as such) makes Lewis’ charge to the title an admirable one.
FRANK BRUNO
IN terms of celebrity and popularity in Eighties and Nineties
Britain, Bruno was on a completely different level to where Whyte is currently.
Critics have argued that due to his fame, Big Frank was gifted world title
shots (he had four in all) but the Londoner didn’t exactly live a sheltered
life when challenging the best of his era.
Following a 1984 loss to Bonecrusher Smith (that would have set
up a premature challenge to the great Larry Holmes), Bruno was forced to rebuild.
– Gerrie Coetzee (w ko 1,
1986)
Nobody can deny that Bruno truly earned his first shot at a
sanctioning body title with this devastating KO. Only 15 months before, the South
African was the WBA boss and though he lost that belt to Greg Page he had since
defeated a still-useful James Tillis over 10.
Also consider that Coetzee, only 30, could boast a draw with
Pinklon Thomas and a win over Michael Dokes in the not so distant past and one
starts to realise why everyone got so excited by Bruno’s emphatic one-round victory.
– Joe Bugner (w rsf 8, 1987)
Following a brave but harrowing loss to Tim Witherspoon,
Bruno feasted on James Tillis, an inept Chuck Gardner and a disinterested
Reggie Gross.
Though it’s now easy to dismiss Bugner as an old man, his last
three wins before taking on Bruno – outpointing Tillis, David Bey and Greg Page
– arguably came at a higher level than Frank’s. But Bugner, cast as the enemy,
was a big underdog in a fight that had been talked about since 1983.
Bruno bludgeoned Bugner to defeat in eight rounds to become
the WBA and WBC No.1 and set up a shot at Mike Tyson.
– Pierre Coetzer (w rsf 8, 1992)
Bruno had to come back again after losing to Tyson in 1989. John
Emmen -woefully overmatched – and Jose Ribalta – yonks past his prime – were dispatched
before Coetzer was brought in to bring some credibility to Bruno’s quest for
another title shot.
The South African was (dubiously) ranked highly prior to being
exposed by Riddick Bowe before taking on Bruno. However, he proved his
toughness and gave Bruno a decent scrap before being halted in eight.
– Carl Williams (w rsf 10, 1993)
Williams was Bruno’s final test before he challenged Lennox
Lewis but the American – like Ribalta and Coetzer – entered the bout on the
back of a defeat. Talented and exciting but notoriously delicate against heavy
punchers, Williams had given an up and coming Tommy Morrison a hell of a tussle
before going down in the eighth.
He again showed his class against big favourite Bruno but was
stopped in the 10th and final round.
– Jesse Ferguson (w ko 1, 1994)
Bruno’s magnificent effort against Lewis and lack of
subsequent layoff (like those which occurred after losses to Witherspoon and
Bruno) meant that his world ranking did not fall too much – unlike the three opponents
he fought prior to taking Oliver McCall for the WBC strap.
Bruno’s quick win over Jesse Ferguson was the only one of the
three worth noting (Rodolfo Marin and Mike Evans were the other two). The
American had only been stopped twice since Tyson halted him in 1986 and, in his
bout prior to Bruno, he gave Ray Mercer another difficult time, losing a split
decision. Frank bombed Ferguson in one.
THE VERDICT: Though Bruno’s title shots came against elite opposition, he rarely strung together more than two consecutive wins against world class opponents outside of world championship competition.
TYSON FURY + ANTHONY JOSHUA
Whyte’s case for a title shot looks particularly strong when one
compares it to the pre-title journeys of the current champions he’s aiming at.
In fact, it’s impossible to pick out five opponents faced by either Joshua or
Fury prior to winning the big one who could each be reasonably classified as
contenders.
Though Joshua was moved well and quickly, Charles Martin becoming
IBF champion was the irresistible bait for the Briton to move into world
championship waters; ‘AJ’ found himself launched into a world title fight
rather than campaigning for one for any length of time.
Fury, of course, had lost that IBF belt after failing to
comply with the organisation’s strict demands regarding mandatories. But looking
at his record before defeating Wladimir Klitschko to win that title (and the
WBA and WBO straps) it’s easy to see why beating the Ukrainian was such a
shock.
– Dereck Chisora (Fury w pts 12, 2011)
Fury’s clash with Chisora matched two unbeaten countrymen for
the vacant British title but neither – though Dereck was flirting with both
Klitschkos at the time – was recognised as a bona-fide world contender.
The bout was relatively entertaining and though Fury largely
controlled the action, Chisora had his moments. The fight was seen by millions
in the UK when it was broadcast on Channel 5 but it’s unlikely that anyone who
witnessed the oft-scrappy affair would have predicted at the time that both men
would go on to become long-term fixtures in the Top 10.
– Steve Cunningham (Fury w ko 7, 2013)
Cunningham was a former cruiserweight titlist who had proved
his worth at heavyweight after deserving more than a split decision loss to another
rising cruiser, Tomasz Adamek. But to say Cunningham was anything other than a
vehicle for Fury would be a stretch despite the IBF sanctioning it as an
eliminator.
But Fury did well on his American debut. Dropped in round two,
he rebounded to pummel his smaller but more experienced rival to win by KO in
the seventh.
– Dereck Chisora (Fury w rtd 10, 2014)
Since their first bout, Chisora had proved himself to be a
contender at the top level and going into this rematch was on a fine run of
form. So much so, that some even tipped him to get his revenge over Fury.
But on this night, Tyson – in a performance full of spite and
intelligence – was faultless. Chisora was beaten up, he barely landed a punch
of note and it was something of a relief when he was hauled out by his corner
after 10 heavily one-sided sessions. Looking back on the career of Fury, this
was the night when he too proved he belonged.
– Christian Hammer (Fury w rsf 7, 2015)
Hammer was Fury’s final test before he dethroned Klitschko.
Like the others in this section, it would be a stretch to call the German a
world class fighter but he saw his rating improve at a time when the dominance
of the Klitschkos had left the weight class in something of a status quo.
Fury (who it would much later emerge failed a drug test after
this fight) won at a canter but failed to convince many that in his next fight,
he’d be the one breaking that status quo. It should also be noted that few
heavyweights at this time were ‘cementing’ their position as leading contenders;
the Klitschkos simply picked off everyone. Until Wladimir came up against
Tyson, that is.
– Dillian Whyte (Joshua w rsf 7, 2015)
Ironic, perhaps, that Joshua’s only victory prior to fighting
for a world title that could be viewed as anything approaching a high-level triumph
was against the man now claiming to be ignored.
But the Whyte of 2015 was a different beast to today. Back
then, despite the genuine grudge between them, Joshua was a big favourite to
win. He survived a real scare early on, when he looked out on his feet, to steadily
pound the resistance out of Whyte and spectacularly knock him out in the seventh.
In his next bout, Joshua destroyed the disappointing Charles Martin
to win the IBF title.
THE VERDICT: Fury and Joshua cannot claim to have fought anything like the opposition that Whyte is currently beating before they challenged for world titles.