Talk about a stunner!
Tonight at Matchroom HQ, in what was seen as just one last step before at last getting his chance to fight for a world title, Dillian Whyte suffered the most brutal and out of the blue KO defeat only the heavyweight division can provide. It was round five when Alexander Povetkin pulled off the stunner of the year as he uncorked a monster left hand to Whyte’s chin, leaving Whyte flat on his back and totally gone.
Time was :30 seconds of round five. Povetkin is now 36-2-1(25). Whyte falls to 27-2(18).
It was all Whyte in the early going. In superb shape, Whyte was showing a stiff left jab, great poise and he was simply the boss. The end looked close for Povetkin in the fourth. Downed twice, by shots he never saw, the Russian was shaking his head and looked despondent. Whyte had the fight in the bag. Or so it seemed.
Then, in the fifth, completely out of the blue, Povetkin let loose with his surprise left uppercut bomb. The blow had Whyte out as soon as it landed. The KO of The Year had been scored. Whyte simply did not know what hit him.
So what now? Whyte, who was agonisingly close to getting what he had earned: a shot at the title, will now have to come again. Povetkin is now looking at a fight with the winner of the third fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. With the blend of experience, cunning and raw power he has, Povetkin can never again be written off.
But how tough is it not to feel a ton of sympathy for Dilian Whyte right now? Heartbreaking is the only thing to say. Whyte could have sat it out, avoided as dangerous a fight as tonight’s bout, and then got his shot. In the end, this old-school mentality fighter paid the price for his wanting to stay active and do things the honorable way.
Huge credit goes to Alexander Povetkin. There could be a return fight between these two.