Dillian Whyte (-400) was the heavy favorite going into his fight against Russian Alexander Povetkin who was the underdog (+300). The two fought in the UK in an empty stadium and it was expected to be an easy win for Whyte who was looking forward to having a crack at the WBC world title champ Tyson Fury.
Whyte looked good during the fight as he quickly got into rhythm and outboxed the 40 year old Povetkin. This was a good showing for Whyte as Povetkin is a very accomplished and experienced boxer who had a record of 35-2-1 before this fight. His only two losses came at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua.
Whyte not only dominated the fight for the first four rounds but also sent Povetkin to the canvas twice. It looked like it was going to be just a matter of time before Whyte handed Povetkin his third defeat.
However, things changed dramatically in the 5th round when Povetkin caught Whyte with a brutal uppercut that put his lights out. The referee did not even bother to go with a count as the fight was over with just one punch.
Whyte’s corner was in disbelief and so was his promoter Eddie Hearn who later said that when heavyweights clash, one punch can change everything.
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Whyte Asks For Immediate Rematch
Dillian Whyte wasted no time in asking Eddie Hearn to invoke the rematch clause in their contract and schedule another fight with Povetkin before the end of 2020. Whyte said he was dominating the fight and got caught by a punch from nowhere. He clearly believes that he is the better fighter and wants one more crack at Povetkin to set the record straight.
Povetkin told the media that even though he got dropped to the canvas twice during the fourth round, he was okay and ready to go. He did not think that he would KO Whyte given the fact that out of his 36 wins only 25 were by knockout. He is happy to step into the ring with Whyte again but said the date and location would be left up to the promoters.
Anthony Joshua Could Fight In December
As the boxing world slowly starts to get back to action post COVID-19, Eddie Hearn expects the unified champion Anthony Joshua to fight Kubrat Pulev on December 5 or 12. Hearn has plans to approach the UK government to see if they will give their permission to have fans fill the arena.