A recurring injury to Scott Quigg could usher in the return of Dillian Whyte.
Quigg, the former junior featherweight titleholder, was scheduled to fight Jono Carroll on the Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua II card on December 7 in Saudi Arabia but Quigg had to pull out with a bad elbow.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, looking for a replacement fight that could generate some interest, has suggested that Whyte could step in against someone.
Whyte (26-1, 18 knockouts) hasn’t fought since he outpointed Oscar Rivas to become the mandatory challenger to titleholder Deontay Wilder in July. It was later learned that Whyte failed a drug test before that fight but he reportedly was cleared to fight by UK Anti-Doping after a quickly organized hearing. Still, he lost his mandatory status to Tyson Fury and had to get back in line.
That’s where December 7 comes in. Whyte needs to get back into the mix. And what better platform than the Ruiz-Joshua II card?
The news that a fight involving Whyte might replace Quigg-Carroll first surfaced when Hearn was in Los Angeles for the Logan Paul-KSI fight. The promoter was asked on a iFL TV video who might replace Quigg-Carroll and he suggested Whyte.
Hearn had no opponent at that time but said, “It’s not going to be a top five-10 guy. But it will be a good fight. We’re working it out.”
Whyte has won 10 consecutive fights since he was stopped by Joshua in 2015.