With WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua almost certain to head to the US for his American debut in his next fight – likely against Jarrell Miller in New York on either June 1st or June 8th – it’s back to the drawing board for Dillian Whyte. Though he is a far more deserving challenger than “Big Baby” is for AJ (those 2018 wins over Lucas Browne, Joseph Parker and Dereck Chisora) money terms were not able to be reached, and so Whyte must move on.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, in speaking with his favourite news outlet IFL TV, stated that the plan for Whyte is to have him headline a pay-per-view card on April 20th, “a heavyweight style night,” Hearn said, and the three “dangerous” names being mentioned as possible opponents for Whyte (a man who has already boxed and won at least two official eliminators for a world title shot) are as follows: Luis Ortiz, Dominic Breazeale and Alexander Povetkin.
With a solid under-card, the type of which, to be fair, Hearn does almost always provide for his pay-per-view shows on Sky Sports Box-Office, Whyte against either of these three would pull in a lot of fans. Whyte, arguably the most consistently exciting and active-at-world level big man today outside of the world champions, could have his hands full with either contender; Cuban southpaw Ortiz especially.
For losing out of the AJ chance (at the title and at revenge, seeing how it would have been a return fight if Whyte had faced Joshua in April) Whyte deserves a consolation, a big one. If Hearn can deliver one of the above names, and if Whyte can win in April, he will be at least a little happier than he is feeling right now.
For my money, I think it will be former WBA champ Povetkin that Hearn secures for Whyte. But again, either of the three names mentioned would make for a great dance partner for “The Body Snatcher.”
And the last “heavyweight night”Hearn gave us, back in July of last year, was a real belter – with Whyte beating Parker in a rumble and Chisora coming back to sensationally flatten Carlos Takam in a slugfest. More please!