By Geno McGahee
This Saturday, the WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, 31-0-1, 22 KO’s, takes on the challenge of the power-punching “Body Snatcher,” Dillian Whyte, 28-2, 19 KO’s, and it will be in front of nearly 100,000 of their fans. This will be more than a boxing pay per view. This will be an event.
During the build up to this title fight, Whyte has been MIA, missing the press conferences and being silent on social media. That has changed recently and can be taken various ways. The most likely cause of this disappearing act is the avoidance of the mind games that Fury is known to play. Whyte doesn’t want to give the champ any unnecessary edge going into this fight where he is already the underdog.
Going into this bout, Fury is the easy pick considering his track record and his back to back knockout wins over the heavyweight monster, Deontay Wilder. The fact that he was able to climb off the floor with the biggest puncher in boxing history and come back to get the knockout makes a strong case that Whyte will have an uphill battle to knock down and keep down Fury.
Prior to the Wilder fights, Fury has had a bumpy road that smoothed out. He would win the unified heavyweight title in 2015 with a decision win over long-reigning champion, Wladimir Klitschko. He would not defend it and go through substance abuse and depression. He would balloon in weight and his life was in jeopardy and his boxing career was over. That changed in 2018 when he returned to the ring and overcame his problems, making his comeback that much more impressive.
In his return, the names aren’t that impressive when you remove the Wilder trilogy. Whyte is, arguably, his best opponent outside of Wilder in this return and it won’t be an easy fight. There are some interesting possibilities going into this one that could give the big underdog a big chance to pull the upset.
Whyte has some notable victories on his record and deserves this shot. He knocked out Dereck Chisora, outpointed former WBO champion, Joseph Parker, destroyed former champion, Lucas Browne and avenged a loss to Alexander Povetkin with a knockout. He is a great body-puncher and is very strong and has a good jab when he uses it. He could give Fury a lot of trouble.
The best fight to draw a comparison and gives Whyte hope was his 2017 win over Robert Helenius. Helenius is very tall and has good movement and has some of the qualities of Fury. Whyte was able to out-muscle Helenius and bully him around the ring, taking a wide decision. That is what he needs to do here.
For Fury, the best comparison would be Dereck Chisora, a fighter with similar characteristics to the challenger. Fury fought him twice, dominating both and stopping him in the second fight. The champion, when using his size and skillset, will dominate an incoming powerhouse, but I’m not sure that we are going to see the boxer/mover that Fury used to be. Fury the knockout puncher aggressor has become more common and if that guy shows up, Whyte’s chances increase.
When the bell rings on Saturday night, I suspect that Fury will keep his distance and look for the openings to knock Whyte out. Povetkin found the Whyte chin with an uppercut and that will be the punch that Fury will be looking to land. For Whyte, he will be going at the body and using his jab as much as possible to make Fury uncomfortable and get some things done.
I suspect we will see a few scares for Fury but once he gets control, he will keep it. Fury will start off using his reach and skills and will then turn up the heat, pounding Whyte to the floor in the 8th round to retain the heavyweight crown and he won’t retire either. I don’t think he’s done with the sport just yet.
