Dillian Whyte is adamant that he can still compete with the best despite coming up short against Tyson Fury in his long awaited world title shot.
Whyte (28-3, 19 KOs) is the first to admit that boxing changed his life. From a tough childhood in Jamaica to a violent passage into adulthood on the streets of Brixton, the brawling heavyweight has been open about the sport being his saviour.
Despite now having three losses on his record, he reiterated his love for the game to Betfred.
“The fire keeps burning because combat sport is what gave me the buzz to change my life. It gave me the buzz to put the weapon down. Combat sport allowed me to change my life and to become a bigger, better man. It gave me a meaning, and to me that’s something really important.”
His most recent defeat came at the hands of ‘The Gypsy King’ in April of this year. Whyte admits it was ‘tricky’ – although he puts that down to Fury’s size rather than skill or speed. He was knocked out in the sixth round following a comprehensive outboxing.
“I still have time and I’m still young enough to correct the mistakes and stand in there and have a very good chance of being a world heavyweight champion.
The Fury fight was a tricky one. I knew it was going to be a difficult fight because he’s just so big. People say he’s fast and a great boxer but he’s not, he’s just a big guy. In the fight he just pushed me over because he’s a strong guy. That’s because he’s so big because I’m not a guy that gets pushed around easily.”
‘The Bodysnatcher’ returns to the ring this weekend against undefeated American, Jermaine Franklin. He’ll be hoping to log a win in order to work his way back up to a title shot in 2023. If he does so, a rematch with British rival, Anthony Joshua, potentially awaits.