Dillian Whyte finally gets his chance at the WBC title this weekend, as he faces of with Tyson Fury at Wembley Stadium. This will be the the biggest fight of Whyte's professional boxing career, however, Whyte has experienced many trials and trepidations outside of the ring too.
Born in Jamaica in 1988, Whyte was brought up in poverty. As a young boy, Whyte was cut adrift from his mother, before being reunited with her as teenager.
Whyte then moved to Brixton, London in his teenage years. Whyte was stabbed three times, once sewing the wound up himself as he was adjusting to life in England. Whyte was also shockingly shot twice too, and took it upon himself to remove the bullets with no help. Whyte was proving his warrior spirit from a young age.
Whyte also became a father at just 13 years old, this spurred him on to put his ambitions into focus.
Not long after, Whyte entered the world of kickboxing and MMA. After leaving his mark, Whyte found his true calling in the sport of boxing.
As an amateur, he sent shockwaves through the game as he defeated Anthony Joshua. Whyte rapidly turned pro.
As a pro, Whyte impressed and was signed by Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing building a record of 16-0, Anthony Joshua had gone on to win an Olympic gold medal and had also signed a pro deal with Matchroom. The story for a bout between them in the pro ranks wrote itself.
Joshua and Whyte put on a classic fight, Joshua was declared winner with a seventh round knockout, but Whyte rocked Joshua in the second round, and his gutsy performance made him a star, even in defeat.
Whyte returned to great fan fare, as he defeated Ivica Bacurin and Dave Allen before going on to win the British title from Ian Lewison.
Whyte was set to fight Dereck Chisora in WBC title eliminator. A controversial build up, where tempers reached boiling point so much that the BBBofC almost cancelled the bout due to misbehaviour, the pair had to weigh in in seperate rooms, but the fight went on. Whyte and Chisora put on a classic with Whyte coming out the victor.
Whyte climbed to the top of the WBC rankings, as he defeated Robert Helenius for the WBC Silver title, before brutally knocking out Lucas Browne in defence of the title, leading to him calling out Deontay Wilder as he was now mandatory challenger.
Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn gave him a Box Office fight with Joseph Parker next, and delivered as he defeated fight Parker in a sensational battle. The unfinished business with Chisora was then settled as Whyte knocked out Chisora in December 2018.
Whyte’s next fight was Oscar Rivas, and the WBC put the WBC ‘interim’ title on the line as Whyte had been mandatory for a long while but hadn’t got his shot. Whyte defeated Rivas, although being floored to hold the title. However, it was reported that Dillian Whyte had failed a drugs test and an investigation was opened.
Fortunately, Whyte was cleared after a lenghthy investigation and returned with a win over Mariusz Wach in December 2019.
Whyte was the pencilled in to fight Alexander Povetkin, but the pandemic delayed that bout, however when it did come around, disaster struck for Whyte.
Whyte was dominating the fight, flooring Povetkin twice in the fourth round, then completely out of nowhere, Povetkin detonated a lethal uppercut, knocking Whyte out.
Whyte made no excuses and got the rematch next. The rematch saw Whyte dominate Povetkin and stop him in four rounds to regain his ranking position.
On February 1st 2022, it was announced that Frank Warren won the purse bids for the bout between Fury vs Whyte with a monster bid of $41million fending off all other promoters. After venue speculation, it was announced that the fight will rightfully take place at Wembley Stadium on April 23rd.
So, after enduring 1634 days as mandatory challenger, Whyte gets his opportunity to fight for a world heavyweight title. This fight will be the first all British world heavyweight title fight since David Haye and Audley Harrison fought for the WBA strap 12 years ago. This will be the first time the WBC heavyweight title has been contested between two Brits since Lennox Lewis defeated Frank Bruno in 1993.
Fury vs Whyte promises to be an action packed night of boxing, and can be watched live on BT Sport Box Office.
???????????????? ???????????????? @DillianWhyte has waited for his shot at glory.
But that's nothing to a man who's spent 34 years ????????????????????????????????.
This is his time to make history and defy the odds.
This is his story, as told by Daniel Kaluuya.
Watch #FuryWhyte ?? https://t.co/SC5xYHIfyfpic.twitter.com/qGuKvkAsPG
— #FuryWhyte | Saturday | BT Sport Box Office ???? (@BTSportBoxing) April 21, 2022