2000 Olympic gold medalist Audley Harrison believes that Dillian Whyte’s best chance of defeating WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is to hit him nonstop with punches, averaging over 100+ shots per round on Saturday.
In other words, Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) must be letting his hands go at all times, not just pressuring in the normal sense.
Harrison says that if Dillian can fight the way that former bantamweight fighter McCWayne ‘Pocket Rocket’ McCullough used to fight, he’ll snow Fury under with punches and score a knockout by wearing him down.
Whyte can stop Fury early
“Stylistically, Fury does have a lot in his favor. If you look at his amateur career, he was a good boxer coming up,” said Audley Harrison to talkSPORT Boxing about Tyson Fury’s fight against Dillian Whyte this Saturday.
“I got to go with Tyson Fury,” Harrison. “Dillian Whyte can push him real close. He could even cause an upset if I was doing his game plan, but I think he’s going to go in there and go out on his shield. He’s going to try and win every round, but ultimately, Tyson Fury will be one step ahead of him.
“I think he’s going to go back to his boxing and not just maul with him because that wouldn’t be a smart move for Tyson Fury. He’s going to come back with his boxing, in and out, but also put his weight on Dillian Whyte.
“Every time, he’s on the inside, he’s going to push him down and lean on him. He’ll use the Lennox move in pushing him down. Emmanuel Steward was great that with Lennox.
“Put your weight on them, and when you’re on the inside, lift them up. Tyson is going to beat him up to the body and beat him up to the head.
“But Dillian Whyte is going to make it interesting for six or seven rounds, he’s going to be in the fight. He [Dillian] may be a round or two behind, and then he’s going to walk onto a shot.
“Tyson Fury could get knocked out in the earlier rounds. He could walk onto it while trying to go for it onto a right hand.
“I think Tyson Fury whether it’s a big points lead and he wins on points or he gets a late stoppage, that’s the way I see it, but I definitely think Dillian Whyte could rip up that script,” said Audley.
Dillian beats Fury with an accumulation of punches
“He really wants it, that’s how Dillian Whyte is,” said Harrison. “He has that kind of character and it’s real. I think Fury has got it, but Dillian Whyte is going to have to be carried out because he’s not going to quit.
“The thing with keeping somebody down, you need an accumulation of punches, and you need to be able to wear them down and take them out.
“Most of his career, he’s been a boxer, sitting on the backfoot, boxing and moving,” Audley continued. “Nobody has been able to shut the space with him and close him down and put him under real pressure.
“You haven’t really seen Tyson Fury look like someone that can be worn down and taken out. He lives the life, he trains, and is in great shape. He’s ready for that 12-round battle if it’s needed.
“Dillian Whyte, if they’ve really thought about it and have a great game plan and the game plan to break down Tyson Fury is you have to be on your feet. You can’t be flat-footed against him.
“If you’re on your feet and you break him down to the head and body and take him in a war and outlast him because Tyson Fury is in great shape, he can box 12 rounds.
“If you’re prepared mentally & physically and your condition is at a state where you can push him and fight at a higher pace than him, then that’s the way you burn him out.
“You’ve got to fight Tyson Fury than a higher pace than he fights right now. Dillian Whyte has a work rate, but he has to go to that crazy work rate,” said Audley.
Whyte much average 100 punches thrown per round
“If I was training Dillian Whyte, I would make him throw 100 punches a round with movement, with feinting with cutting off the ring and you’re throwing 100 punches per round, which is almost impossible,” Harrison said. “That’s the way to beat Tyson Fury.
“He’s not trying to box him, he’s not trying to knock him out, it’s to wear him out with a nonstop accumulation of punches. That’s how you beat Tyson Fury.
“If I was training Dillian Whyte, he would go to altitude, and that’s how you beat Tyson Fury. You punch him nonstop for every second of every round until he wears out.
“That’s how you beat him because he’s a tough Irishmen, he’s never quitting, never ever. Dillian Whyte is a Jamaican and he’s never quitting either. I love Dillian Whyte and I love Tyson Fury, they’ve done amazing with their careers.
“But you’ve got to take Tyson Fury into a zone that he’s never gone to, and the only way to go that is with fitness because you’re not going to be able to break his heart,” said Harrison.
“He’s been able to do what he wants with his style, and then he’s gone to [trainer] Sugarhill. Now he’s made him a come-forward fighter more aggressive.
“When he fought Deontay Wilder, they changed the game plan in the second fight and started going forward with that front-foot pressure. So now he has an added dimension, and he now has a lot of advantages in his favor in this fight.
“There’s no quit in Dillian Whyte in this fight. So he’s going to be coming forward trying to land his right hand.
“Looking back at some of his fights, when he’s fighting a big guy, he has a good right hand that he rolls over. He drops down and throws a big right hand over the top.
“The thing about Tyson Fury is you can knock down Tyson Fury and it doesn’t matter. Steve Cuningham and Deontay Wilder put him to sleep, and he gets up. It looks like he’s getting put to sleep but he’s not.
“So he does recover well, and doesn’t mind taking a shot. Personality-wise, he seems like he’s in a great place. He looks like he’s enjoying his boxing, and Dillian Whyte is a guy that has been chasing him and wants his shot.
“All the advantages are with Tyson Fury, but Dillian Whyte, there’s no quit in him, so he’s going to be trying to find a way to win. Tyson Fury is going to have to nail him to the floor,” said Harrison.
