Dillian Whyte honoured to have Gibraltar coin commissioned to mark heavyweight rematch with Alexander Povetkin

The Gibraltar government has commissioned a special £2 coin to commemorate Dillian Whyte’s heavyweight rematch with Alexander Povetkin on Saturday night.

They are the only boxers to ever feature on any sterling currency — and Brixton’s Whyte (27-2,18 KOs) is the first black person to receive the honour.

Whyte is seeking revenge over Povetkin, who produced a stunning knockout of the South Londoner in the fifth round.

Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions the show has been switched to Gibraltar, where the general public will be allowed to attend.

Whyte was unable to leave his Portugal training camp to attend the striking of the first coin, but his former head teacher Gary Phillips and a handful of pupils from his old school, Lilian Baylis in South London, did attend the striking of the first coin at Tower Mint last week.

“It is a great honour for someone like me to go down in history as the first boxer, and first black man, to feature on sterling currency,” said Whyte. “I can’t believe that someone that comes from where I come from and has been through what I’ve been through can be honoured in this way.

“There’s a lot of black people that have done much bigger things than me, so it’s a really special occasion for me and my family. This is why we should never give up on children that come from disadvantaged and troubled backgrounds. Kids that are difficult and misunderstood at school can always turn out to do big things in their lives.

“I’d like to thank my former headmaster Gary Phillips and my old maths teacher Isaac Awuley for all of the hard work that they put into me at school. I wish I’d listened to them more! The school is doing really well these days but back then that wasn’t the case, but they did a great job of supporting us all. I can’t thank them enough, they’ve played a bigger part in my life than they think.

“I’m going to win this rematch with Povetkin on March 27 in style and bring my belts back to Lilian Baylis to show all of the pupils.”

The rematch is being screened by Sky Box Office.