Dillian Whyte to bring “maximum violence” as he takes on Russian Alexander Povetkin in May dust up
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
Brixton heavyweight Dillian Whyte is promising to bring “maximum violence” for his clash with Alexander Povetkin on May 2 at the Manchester Arena.
The WBC world interim title will be at stake.
Whyte is mandatory challenger to Tyson Fury, who holds the sanctioning body’s main belt after a brilliant stoppage win of American Deontay Wilder.
But the South Londoner has still opted to take on Povetkin, who has only lost to Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua.
Whyte said: “I remember watching him fight Cedric Boswell when I had about three, or one fight. I remember him smashing Cedric Boswell to bits and Hasim Rahman – this guy is serious and now it’s my time to bring some maximum violence to him. Funny world of boxing, eh.
“He’s been through the mill, seen every style. I haven’t, I’m still learning. I’m learning on the job, in the deep end swimming. For me to fight these kind of guys is a massive learning opportunity for me. I believe I beat them all anyway. I just got to be in shape. Leave the cakes alone, I’m good.
Picture By Mark Robinson.
“I’m not thinking about Tyson Fury, what’s happening with him, I’m just thinking about Alexander Povetkin, because he’s dangerous and he’s going to want to come and fight and leave it all on the line.
“That’s just in his DNA. We’re very similar in that mindset in that we come and give it our all, so I’m just focused on him. We’ll see what happens on May 2. We’ll have a chat about Tyson Fury and that. Now I’ll put that on the back-burner and just focus on Alexander Povetkin for the next eight weeks.”
Povetkin said: “I am very happy to be back in the UK because people are very good and very knowledgeable with regards to boxing and I am looking forward to my fight with Dillian, Dillian is a very strong opponent.
“I do understand that it is a very important fight for Dillian, but it is no less important fight for me and I will do my best, apply all my effort to make this fight interesting.”
PHOTOS BY MARK ROBINSON/MATCHROOM BOXING