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Dillian Whyte was knocked out cold by Alexander Povetkin, as the Russian viciously halted his world title ambitions in the finale of Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex.
Whyte had completely controlled the fight, flooring his opponent twice in the fourth round, but was smashed by a left uppercut in the fifth that ended his hopes in a flash.
The 32-year-old would have had a mandatory challenge of Tyson Fury’s WBC Heavyweight Championship finally enforced after a 1000-day wait with a win in Essex, but became the victim of a stunning come-from-behind victory.
Eddie Hearn, promoter for Whyte, is now targeting a rematch with Povetkin.
“We have a rematch clause. That was the first thing that Dillian said when he came out, ‘Get me that rematch, get me that rematch.’ It was a heavy knockdown, he’s going to have to take his rest. Povetkin is the mandatory now but he won’t be called. The only person to get called to negotiate with the winner of Fury vs. Wilder was Dillian Whyte. So we will exercise that rematch clause and we will look to make that happen before the end of the year,” Hearn said.
“Listen, it’s a huge fight. It’s a dangerous fight now because obviously back-to-back defeats has a different shade on it. I know he will come back from this. It is crippling for Dillian to lose that number one position but he will be back. I believe he will win the rematch and bring his number one position back to life. This is the best sport in the world. The most dramatic sport in the world. This is what the sport brings us and sometimes it’s brutal.”
And the win now eliminates a mandatory obligation for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury – making him free to finalize a two fight agreement with unified champion Anthony Joshua in 2020. Fury would first have to beat Deontay Wilder in a trilogy fight, and Joshua has to overcome mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.
“One of the stumbling blocks was that early in 2021 the mandatory defense against Dillian Whyte. Alexander Povetkin won’t be called as that immediate mandatory even though he sits at number one position,” Hearn said.
“So, yes, that frees up Tyson Fury to fight Anthony Joshua after the Deontay Wilder fight. For me, I wanted Dillian Whyte to get that opportunity. I thought a good win tonight would secure that and I thought he deserved that but he did lose and now he needs to rematch and try to beat Alexander Povetkin.”