If everything works out as planned against Robert Helenius (25-1, 16 KOs) this Saturday night, #3 WBC Dillian Whyte (21-1, 16 KOs) says he wants fights against three heavyweights in his next 3 fights: Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker (25-0, 18 KOs). Whyte’s chances of getting the fights in that order is questionable at beat. Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn is still trying to get WBC heavyweight champion Wilder to agree to face Whyte on February 3.
Hearn has offered Wilder $3 million to take the fight with the 29-year-old Whyte. Wilder wants more than twice that amount in asking for $7 million. Hearn can probably come up with that money if he wanted to, but he clearly has no interest in putting out that kind of money.
Joshua is the man at the minute. I want the rematch with him. I’d like to fight Wilder or maybe Parker first, they are the two weakest world champions,” said Whyte “I’d beat one of those which would then set up a massive rematch with Joshua over here at Wembley or Cardiff or even another country – I’d even fight him in Nigeria!”
I wish Whyte a lot of luck trying to get Wilder or Joseph Parker to fight him next year, because I don’t see it happening. What’s strange is how Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn keeps stubbornly pushing for Wilder to take the fight with Dillian, as if he’ll change his mind and accept it if he keeps mentioning it. Hearn needs stop harping about the Wilder fight.
Whyte has a very tough fight on his hands against Robert “Nordic Nightmare” Helenius (25-1, 16 KOs) this Saturday night at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It’s assumed by many in the boxing world that Whyte wins hands down against Helenius, but you can’t tell for sure if he’ll be able to do that. A lot of the fans thought Whyte would wipe the deck with the 33-year-old Dereck Chisora last December, and that fight almost turned out to be a disaster for him. Whyte was badly hurt by Chisora a number of times in that fight, and he barely escaped with a victory.
The way that Whyte fought, he deserved to lose the fight. Helenius is a bigger puncher than Hcisora with a lot more size. If Helenius can catch Whyte with one of his big shots right on the button on Saturday night, he might be able to get him out of there. A loss for Whyte ends any hope of him getting Wilder, Joshua or Parker. Those guys will ignore Whyte for ages until he eventually works his way to a mandatory spot in the rankings.
If Hearn isn’t going to give Wilder his asking price for him to do him a favor by fighting Whyte, then he should move on. It looks strange the way that Hearn keeps beating a dead horse by talking about how he wants Wilder to fight Whyte on February 3 next year. What’s the point in Hearn yapping about that fight if he’s not going to give Wilder the $7 million he’s asking for? I get the impression that Hearn thinks Wilder will change his mind and take the fight with Whyte for $3 million if he keeps talking about the fight enough with the boxing media.
One reason why Hearn likely feels he doesn’t need to pay Wilder’s asking price of $7 million is because Whyte could pick up the #1 mandatory spot with the World Boxing Council if he whips the 33-year-old Helenius this Saturday night in their fight for the vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title. Once Whyte becomes Wilder’s mandatory challenger, then it’s only a matter of time before the WBC orders the fight. The only question is how long does it take for the WBC to make that move.
If Whyte and Hearn are in a big hurry to make the fight with Wilder, then they might have to pay him his asking price of $7 million. Wilder vs. Whyte might bring in a lot of PPV buys on Sky Box Office. If Hearn gives Wilder his $7 million asking price, then you can imagine Whyte will want at last half of that amount. Hearn would have to come up with a lot of money to make that fight happen, and he’d also need to load up the undercard with his fighters like he usually does.
Instead of Whyte going the WBC route to try and get a fight with Wilder, he should simply put heat on his promoter Hearn to put together the rematch with Joshua. That’s the fight that Whyte really wants. He said it himself that he wants to fight Joshua in a rematch. To me, it;s a heck of a lot smarter for Whyte to take the fight with Joshua now rather than for him to go through all the hassles of becoming the mandatory challenger to Deontay Wilder. As I said, even if Whyte does become Wilder’s mandatory, he’s probably not going to get the fight with him until 2019. That’s a lot time for Whyte to have to wait for him to fight Wilder, but that’s the reality because the WBC is going to give Wilder at least 1 to 2 years before they force him to fight his mandatory challenger again. Wilder is fighting his WBC mandatory Bermane Stiverne next month on November 4. This means that Wilder’s next mandatory likely won’t be forced on him until 2019. I don’t see the WBC making Wilder fight Whyte in 2018. That’s ages that Whyte will have to wait for the Wilder fight. Hearn can help Whyte wait needlessly by simply matching him against Joshua right away without him constantly talking about a fight that won’t happen anytime soon between Wilder and Whyte.