Editors’s note: This article was originally published on SportingNews.com.
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Dillian Whyte felt he was “bossing” Alexander Povetkin prior to his devastating knockout loss and looks forward to a rematch.
Whyte’s hopes of landing an immediate shot at the WBC championship against the winner of Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder III were dashed following the No. 1 contender’s stunning defeat to Povetkin on Saturday at Fight Camp in Brentwood, England.
After dominating the opening four rounds and downing Povetkin twice in the fourth, Whyte was sensationally knocked out with a massive uppercut in the fifth.
Whyte (27-2) asked promoter Eddie Hearn in a video Matchroom Boxing tweeted, “Can we get the rematch in December?”
Hearn responded in the affirmative.
“OK cool,” Whyte said. “I’m good, I’m good. It’s one of them things where he just landed. I was bossing it. It is what it is. Rematch, it’s all good. That’s what heavyweight boxing is about.”
"Can we get the rematch in December?" – @DillianWhyte speaks with @EddieHearn post-fight…#FightCamp #WhytePovetkin pic.twitter.com/vxZPfbKHnm
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) August 22, 2020
A stunned Hearn said immediately after the fight that Whyte will exercise his rematch clause with Povetkin.
“I can’t quite believe it,” Hearn said. “When he landed the punch, it felt like some dream. The fight was over virtually. Povetkin started well. Dillian Whyte was just measuring him and then he had the great finish to the round before, when he knocked Povetkin down. … I felt it was over, a lot of people felt it was over.
“The drama of the sport we love, the drama of heavyweight boxing is one punch can change everything.”
He added: “I’m pretty much lost for words, if I’m honest with you. We have a rematch clause. The first thing Dillian said was, ‘Get me that rematch, get me that rematch.
“Povetkin is mandatory now, but the only person who would get called to negotiate fighting the winner of Fury-Wilder was Dillian Whyte. We’ll exercise that rematch clause. We’ll look to make that before the end of the year, and it’s a huge fight.”
#WhytePovetkin #FightCamp pic.twitter.com/Zirr5yWTAB
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) August 22, 2020
It was a memorable evening for Povetkin (36-2-1), who said through a translator: “I didn’t feel I would finish the fight like this. I was pretty confident in the fourth round. I went down but I was OK. It wasn’t too much damage so ….”
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