Fighting on the undercard this past Saturday night in Saudi Arabia, and no longer having to fight to clear his name as he did so, was Dillian Whyte – a man, a fighter, who was put through so much ugliness over the last six months or so. And it turned out none of it – absolutely none of it – was either needed, much less deserved.
As fans have no doubt read by now, Whyte has been totally and utterly cleared by the people who put it out there in the first place that there was something, anything, going on with Whyte’s drug tests. Turns out, no. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Whyte is no more a drug cheat, a beneficiary of PEDS than any other innocent athlete.
Whyte has now insisted his WBC mandatory position be reinstated, that his good name be returned. This is the least Whyte is due him.
Speaking with IFL TV, a quite emotional Whyte, 27-1(18) had the following to say yesterday:
“I knew I was innocent anyway, I was just angry,” Whyte said when asked for his response to being cleared. “They put me through hell. Everyone with any sense knew I was innocent. It made no sense. I’m so angry. I’m enraged. They tried to destroy me – why? I’m the guy that comes to fight. I’m the guy who will fight with a three week notice. I’m the guy that tried to help the community. I’m the guy who fought my way, dangerous fights back to back.
“I’ve stopped smiling. The days of smiling are over; just pure anger, violence and rage.”
Overweight, admittedly rusty (just imagine if you can come close, how hard must it have been for Whyte to stay focused and train when the powers that be who seemed to be against him in one big way were threatening his entire career) and not at his best, Whyte nevertheless managed to pound out a decent decision win over Mariusz Wach on the Joshua-Ruiz card.
Whyte won most of the 10 rounds and he had the satisfaction of being back where he belongs: in the ring. If he can now go on and realise his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion, the Dillian Whyte story will be one epic tale of right over wrong, of never giving up no matter the unfair and enormous odds against you.
More power to him. Now, will the WBC do the right thing – the only thing they can do according to Eddie Hearn – and give Whyte back his mandatory position? Whyte has more than earned his shot.