All good things to those who wait. Even if hard working heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte has been forced to wait way too long, the once-beaten Brit is at last in line to get a shot at a world heavyweight title. This Saturday’s fight with the unbeaten Oscar Rivas will be both a final eliminator for the WBC title, as well as the bout being for the interim WBC belt.
According to a report from Sky Sports, Whyte (if he can beat Rivas), will be in line to face whoever it is that holds the WBC title by May of 2020. As fans know, Deontay Wilder currently holds the WBC belt and he is scheduled to fight both Luis Ortiz (we hear now in November) and Tyson Fury (perhaps in February although that would necessitate a quick turnaround from Wilder, with him having to fight again just three months after the Ortiz return) in rematches.
If Wilder can get through both the Cuban and then the unbeaten lineal champ who previously held him to a draw, “The Bronze Bomber” will be facing Whyte some time next spring. And though Whyte and Fury have been going back and forth on social media – Whyte claiming he “laid out” Fury in a sparring session, Fury denying it – Whyte does seem to want a piece of Wilder more so than he does any other fighter.
It is of course only right that Whyte, who has done everything asked of him and more when it comes to earning himself a shot at the title, has at last got his big chance. Indeed, it would be awful for Whyte if he were to lose to Rivas when he is so close to a shot at the ultimate prize.
All of sudden, this Saturday night’s fight at The O2 is a very big deal. Whyte will be in no mood to blow it, while Rivas, unbeaten in 26 starts, will be looking to crash his way to a title shot of his own. Whyte-Rivas has the look of a good fight, perhaps an explosive fight, and a good tag-line for the match-up could be “High Stakes.”