Dillian Whyte gets his shot at greatness – and facing adversity is nothing new for South London’s most high-profile boxer

There have been 30 holders of the prestigious WBC world heavyweight title, Dillian Whyte will be fervently hoping that number ticks over to 31 before midnight tomorrow at Wembley Stadium.

The Brixton boxer has his shot at greatness this weekend. Battles inside the ring – and also legal ones outside of it – have finally given him a crack at the famous green belt.

It doesn’t get any bigger than this, quite literally. There is set to be a crowd of 94,000 fans at Wembley to see Whyte, a major underdog, attempt to usurp Tyson Fury, the number one heavyweight on the planet who is coming off two thrilling victories over vaunted American puncher Deontay Wilder.

It will be the biggest ever attendance for a sporting event at the rebuilt national stadium with both fighters earning career-high paydays. Whyte, who has twice rebuilt after suffering knockout losses to Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin, will take home £6million along with an extra £3.1m going to the winner.

The WBC’s Union Belt – produced especially for the occasion – is an extra prize for the victor.

But Whyte’s sole goal is to become only the fourth Brit to claim that governing body’s world title. He would follow in the footsteps of Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno.

Since the WBC was founded in 1963 the belt has been held by ring greats such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko.

That the main event sold out so quickly, especially with a tepid undercard that strongly suggests Queensberry Promotions and Top Rank blew their budget on the headline acts, only underlines the pulling power that Fury and Whyte possess. Especially when you consider that Whyte, previously at loggerheads with the promoters on a number of issues, has only started fulfilling media duties at the back end of last week.

The talk has largely been respectful, not always the case when pay-per-view buys – powered by what the media can sometimes tag as ‘beef’ or trashtalking – can help sweeten the pot even further.

Fury, Manchester-born and Morecambe-based, has talked about this being the last fight of his career. It will only become clear after tomorrow’s showdown if that was merely an attempt to entice any waverers to part with £24.95 and tune in on BT Sport Box Office.

Neither fighter has been very active and part of that is due to Covid. Boxing did have shows behind closed doors, just like football, but you did not see a whole lot of the truly marquee fighters in action during that period. Packing out a major arena helps with meeting financial demands.

So ring rust could be something to factor in.

Fury has boxed just once since February 2020 – climbing off the canvas twice in the fourth round to pound Wilder into submission in  a thriller in Las Vegas in October 2021. Whyte is a similar story. He looked to be gradually chopping away at Povetkin’s resistance before being on the receiving end of a chilling uppercut that put his lights out in August 2020.

He returned in March 2021 to easily avenge his loss to the Russian in Gibraltar, a location chosen as a small amount of punters were allowed to attend while the UK was still shut down.

Whyte was due to face Otto Wallin in October but withdrew due to a shoulder injury. Wallin, outpointed by Fury in 2019, was adamant that Whyte pulled out with a fake injury after learning he would finally get his crack at the WBC world title.

Whyte had been the number one contender for more than 1,000 days before his loss to Povetkin forced him back into the role of winning the rematch and then using litigation to coerce the WBC.

Now is his chance. The question is whether he has the tools to do it.

In heavyweight boxing, nothing is ever guaranteed. Such big men carry the power to change the course of a fight in the blink of an eye. It’s why that division has always been the one which brings the most rewards.

Fury’s size and physical advantages – not to mention the surprising mobility and boxing skills for such a giant – make him extremely difficult to pin down or connect cleanly on.

He has won 31 of his 32 fights and the draw – the first of his three encounters with Wilder – was widely perceived as a robbery.

The one time Fury did look extremely fortunate to claim the points decision was in his eighth professional bout, against John McDermott for the English title. In the return, a year later in 2010, he won emphatically.

I’d expect a Fury win – and inside the distance – but Whyte has had a remarkable career for someone who did not have any kind of extensive amateur background.

He has headlined numerous pay-per-view shows and is one of this country’s most recognised boxers.

Whyte has faced adversity in his life, growing up in tough conditions both in Jamaica and after arriving in the UK as a child. He’s a survivor. He’s a born fighter. You write him off at your peril.

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