Both heavyweights are coming off a stoppage loss and both guys are looking at a way to get back to the top. Dillian Whyte was sent south in the fifth round by Alexander Povetkin back in August, while Kubrat Pulev was crushed in the ninth round by Anthony Joshua last month. Whyte of course wants revenge over Povetkin yet the British contender has also expressed interest in taking an interim fight should the rematch take too long to get done (Povetkin-Whyte II was set for January, only for Povetkin to go down with Covid, the new date looking like some time in March but nothing is concrete).
If Whyte does look to take another fight prior to his return with Povetkin, Pulev is more than willing to fight him. This is according to Pulev’s co-promoter Ivaylo Gotzev, who spoke with Sky Sports. After revealing how Pulev had been battling symptoms of Covid just one month before the Joshua fight (this compromising Pulev’s performance, Gotzev says), Gotzev said a fight between Pulev and Whyte would be “a great heavyweight scrap for the future.”
“Let’s not forget that right now we stand still in a winning column with Kubrat at 2-1 against top British heavyweights,” Gotzev said. “I’m referring to Chisora and Hughie Fury, so let’s keep the score going. Certainly, one fight of great interest that I think style-wise and personalities would make for a great clash is Pulev versus Dillian Whyte, once he deals with Povetkin. Dillian Whyte has been very loud in the past talking about Kubrat and Kubrat feels like he is the perfect mouth he wants to shut.”
Pulev-Whyte would certainly be a fight fans would tune in to see. How much has Pulev got left? Has that devastating KO at the hands of Povetkin taken a good deal out of Whyte? Again, the fight Whyte wants – and the fight we all want to see – is the return with Povetkin. But if that match is unavailable, who knows, we might see Whyte-Pulev this year. Who has the better chin out of these two?