Dillian Whyte: The only thing that matters is I beat Alexander Povetkin – I can worry about looking good in another fight
Dillian Whyte has labelled Saturday’s heavyweight rematch with Alexander Povetkin a “must-win” and doesn’t care if he impresses or not.
The Brixton puncher was knocked out in the fifth round by Povetkin in August and instantly activated a return.
Whyte can reclaim the WBC Interim world title if he does the business in Gibraltar at the weekend.
“This time I’ll beat him, and we’ll see what people are going to say.” said Whyte. “One, two or three losses means nothing to a heavyweight nowadays. If you fight good fighters, the main thing is you can come back. This is a must-win fight for me, but I’m not a guy that worries about pressure. I just smile and take it in my stride.
“I was a fighter a long time before I was a boxer. I’ve been knocking people out for a long time. I carry a lot of power in both hands. Povetkin is a very cagey guy and an experienced guy, a very patient guy. He’s a tough guy as well. Last time I didn’t land properly and he went down, but he showed resilience by getting up and then he stopped me. This time when I hit him he’ll stay down.
“I’m a very adaptable kind of guy, I’ll do what I need to do to get the win. I don’t care if I’ve got to rough a guy up or outbox them. I’ll do whatever it takes for me to win. It’s the biggest fight of my career. I’m coming off a loss to the guy. The good thing is this is heavyweight boxing. One fight changes everything.
“It’s a fight man. You don’t know how you’re going to feel on the day. You don’t know what’s going to happen and you don’t know how the other guy is going to come. As long as I’m able to adapt on the day, that’s all that matters.
“I don’t care if I have to throw two jabs and move or get in and throw power punches and rough him up. I’ll do whatever I have to do. I’m not worried about a career-best performance, I’m worried about getting the win. My mindset is I’ve got a job to do and I’ll do whatever I need to do to get it done.
“I’m still young and I’ve got loads of fights left in my career God willing. I can worry about looking good in another fight. This is about winning. When I touch him this time his whole body is going to vibrate, he’ll understand. I’m coming to do what I do best and that’s to inflict pain. If I’ve got to make it a dog fight then I’ll make it a dog fight. It will be a different story this time.”
PHOTO: MATCHROOM BOXING