Tag: dillian whyte

Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Dillian Whyte? Momentum is building

Promoter Eddie Hearn reportedly offered Andy Ruiz Jr. a seven-figure purse to face Dillian Whyte in March.

Andy Ruiz Jr., suddenly out of sight and out of mind in any heavyweight discussion, surfaced on social media recently, asking fans who he should fight next.

Answers to Ruiz’s Instagram post were all over the place. To wit: Fight the temptation to party instead of train. But a real one came from Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, who mentioned Dillian Whyte.

Now it looks as if there is momentum building for Hearn’s suggestion. Ruiz’s comeback from his embarrassing loss to Anthony Joshua on Dec. 7 in Saudi Arabia might be against Whyte.

According to The Athletic, Hearn is offering a seven-figure purse to Ruiz (33-2, 20 KOs) to fight Whyte on March 28 in the U.K. on DAZN. There’s another report from ESPN Deportes that Ruiz plans to fight in May or June. Seven figures, however, could convince him to come back at an earlier date.

Whyte confirmed in a tweet that he met with Hearn on Tuesday.

“Fight news dropping very very soon,’’ Whyte said.

Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) is coming off a mixed performance in a decision over Mariusz Wach on the undercard of Ruiz’s loss to Joshua in a rematch of his stunning upset of Joshua on June 1 in New York.

Whyte is the mandatory challenger to the belt Deontay Wilder will defend against Tyson Fury in their rematch Feb. 22 on Fox/ESPN+ pay-per-view. Whyte was reinstated as the No. 1 challenger when a doping charge against him was dropped on Dec. 11.

Dillian Whyte expected to fight in spring, but not for title

Dillian Whyte is expected to fight again in the spring, but it doesn’t look is if it will be for a heavyweight title he desperately wants.

Dillian Whyte is expected to fight again in the spring, but it doesn’t look is if it will be for a heavyweight title he so desperately wants.

Whyte, who won a decision over Mariusz Wach on the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. II card Dec. 7, is in line for a shot at the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder winner, promoter Eddie Hearn says.

But Hearn doesn’t believe that will happen anytime soon. Instead, Hearn says he would like to see Whyte in a fight against Ruiz or Alexander Povetkin.

“Looking to fight in April, possibly in the U.K.,’’ Hearn told iTV.  “Again, it all depends on Joshua’s next fight.’’

It’s still not clear what Joshua plans to do next. A mandatory title defense against Kubrat Pulev is one possibility.

“Dillian Whyte,” Hearn said, “where are we going to place him and slot him in? I love the Andy Ruiz fight for Dillian Whyte. Will they take it? Probably not.”

“I like the Povetkin fight for Dillian Whyte, I think that’s an absolute war. But, ultimately, all these fights for Dillian are great, but we’ve got to get him a world title fight. We’ve got to see where we are with the WBC (World Boxing Council). We’re not the mandatory until 2021.”

Deontay Wilder trainer/manager leery about fight in U.K. after Dillian Whyte debacle

Jay Deas, Deontay Wilder’s handler, is leery about a U.K. fight after the way officials there handled Dillion Whyte’s last bout.

Deontay Wilder trainer and co-manager Jay Deas has concerns about fighting in Britain because of lingering questions involving Dillian Whyte, whose suspension was lifted after he was cleared in a UK Anti-Doping investigation.

Whyte tested positive before a victory over Oscar Rivas in London last summer. UKAD ruled last week that the test was contaminated.

Deas told the Daily Mail that the fact Rivas was not informed of the test before the July 20 fight is a concern.

“I know that they cleared him (Whyte) of the drug thing but still, when they had a positive result and did not tell the opponent, that’s problematic,’’ Deas told the U.K. newspaper. “I think that’s potentially criminal. That’s a big, big issue for me.’’

Deas also said that Rivas’ corner was not able to examine Whyte’s gloves after he changed them before opening bell.

Wilder and his team would need answers from the British Boxing Board of Control before he would agree to defend his title in the U.K.

“There would have to be a lot of things that we would have to talk about, relative to the BBBofC, and making sure that it was a level playing field because those things were horribly handled, and, in my opinion, set British boxing back quite a few years,’’ Deas said.

Wilder is scheduled to defend his title against U.K. heavyweight Tyson Fury in a rematch on Feb. 22. Whyte was reinstated as the mandatory challenger for the winner on Wednesday. Meanwhile, there’s been speculation about Joshua fighting the winner after the U.K. heavyweight reclaimed his titles by a decision over Andy Ruiz Jr. in their rematch Saturday.

“He’s fought in the U.K. and he’s also travelled over several times on his own, so he loves it there,’’ Deas said. “That’s really not the issue. It’s just making sure that everything is on the up-and-up and it’s sad. That didn’t used to be a concern, but lately that has been a concer, and we’d just have to sort all that out.”

BBBoC General Secretary Robert Smith responded to Deas, saying:

“We’re disappointed in the comments. All the anti-doping procedures in this country are carried out by UKAD and we carry out their rulings. The gloves used on the evening are approved by the BBBoC so we have no argument with that. They’re gloves that everybody is well aware of. We find no substance in that discussion at all.

“Mr. Wilder has boxed in Britain previously and was looked after well and would be looked after well again this time.’’

WBC lifts suspension of Dillian Whyte, following lead of UKAD

The WBC has followed the lead of UK Anti-Doping by lifting its suspension of Dillian Whyte and making him its mandatory challenger.

An anti-doping charge against Dillian Whyte has been dropped in a move that puts the heavyweight in line for a mandatory shot at the winner of the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury rematch in February.

The World Boxing Council announced that it had lifted its provisional suspension of the 31-year-old Whyte, who was cleared of wrongdoing by UK Anti-Doping five days ago.

Whyte (27-1,18 KOs), who outpointed Mariusz Wach on Saturday on the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. undercard in Saudi Arabia, tested for what was called “an adverse finding” in June. According to the UKAD, the test sample was contaminated.

“Based on limited but detailed research and information gathering, including the WBC’s consultation with two independent experts, the WBC found that there was no sufficient or conclusive evidence that Whyte intentionally, or even knowingly, ingested a banned substance with the purpose of enhancing his performance in any fashion,’’ the WBC said in a statement.

The WBC concluded the statement, saying:  “Whyte shall become the Mandatory Challenger of the division immediately after Champion Deontay Wilder’s mandatory defense against current Mandatory Challenger Tyson Fury.”

Dillian Whyte hopes Anthony Joshua beats Andy Ruiz, wants rematch

Dillian Whyte will be rooting for Anthony Joshua when he takes on Andy Ruiz in a heavyweight title rematch on December 7 in Saudi Arabia.

When Anthony Joshua ducks through the ropes to face Andy Ruiz in their highly anticipated rematch on December 7 in Saudi Arabia (live on DAZN), he will have a former opponent rooting for him at ringside: Dillian Whyte.

“I hope he can improve and move on from what happened in June and win, and I want him to win,” Whyte told Sky Sports in a recent interview. “It’s better for me, it’s better for him, it’s better for British boxing.

“It’s been a long time since British boxing had so many heavyweights at the top.”

Whyte fought Joshua in 2015, buzzing Joshua at one point before getting steamrolled in the seventh round. He will fight Mariusz Wach in a 10-rounder on the Ruiz-Joshua card amid an ongoing PED scandal.

Whyte offered some thoughts on what Joshua needs to do to be victorious in the rematch.

“I just hope that Joshua hasn’t listened to what people have been saying, that he needs to lose weight, that he needs to change this, because when you take too much of that negativity, it can take away from your main strength,” Whyte said. “His main strength is being big and strong and powerful and being in physical condition more than guys he fought before.”

Whyte believes that Joshua needs to refrain from brawling and fight on the outside to be successful.

“What Joshua needs to do is drag the fight,” Whyte said. “Use his feet and his range. Get his jab going and hold him as well. Holding is part of defense as well, it’s not just using your feet all the time. Get his jab going and make it a boring fight and clip him when he’s unaware. … You need to bide your time with some fighters and break them down, give them different looks. I think that’s what he needs to do.”

Asked whether he believes Joshua will win, Whyte demurred.

“It’s heavyweight boxing, man,” he said. “I can’t say he’s going to win. I hope he wins, but you never know. sometimes fighters lose and it makes them stronger. Sometimes fighters lose and it makes them weaker. When I lost, it made me stronger. Other guys it made them weaker. I don’t know.”

Still, for Whyte’s sake, he hopes Joshua will be victorious.

“Everything is just hope at the moment,” he said. “I don’t know where he is in his life. Boxing is a hard, dangerous game. Win, lose or draw, I would still like the rematch. Even if he loses his next 10 fights, I still want the rematch.”

Dillian Whyte to fight on Ruiz-Joshua II card in wake of PED scandal

Dillian Whyte will take on Mariusz Wach on the undercard of the Andy Ruiz vs. Anthony Joshua rematch, despite his ongoing drug scandal.

Dillian Whyte has been quieter than a church mouse for the past several months but we’ll hear from him soon.

The British heavyweight contender will take on Mariusz Wach on the undercard of the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua rematch Dec. 7 in Saudi Arabia, it was confirmed in a release today. The news comes as Whyte has been embroiled in a PED scandal that has seen him disappear recently from the public eye.

Whyte tested positive for a banned substance before his July 20 fight against Oscar Rivas, in which Whyte survived a ninth round knockdown to win a unanimous decision. The test was administered by UK Anti-Doping.

Whyte’s “A” sample reportedly showed small amounts of epimethandienone and hydroxymethandienone, which are metabolites found in the banned substance Dianabol.

It was revealed afterward that the British Board of Boxing Control, as well as Whyte and his promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, had been notified of the results before the fight while Rivas and his team were kept in the dark. Hearn said he couldn’t share his knowledge of the test results because of confidentiality requirements.

The BBBofC reportedly conducted a hearing before the fight, which included UKAD, and Whyte was cleared to participate in the fight against Rivas without Rivas’ knowledge.

Whyte isn’t the only fighter on the card to have failed a drug test. Wach, Alexander Povetkin (who takes on Michael Hunter) and Eric Molina (who faces Filip Hrgovic) also have tested positive for banned substances.

Ruiz-Joshua II will stream on DAZN.