It’s official. Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte (26-1, 18 KOs) has landed a spot on the colossal Andy Ruiz Jr vs. Anthony Joshua 2 World title rematch taking place at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia on December 7, shown live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US. Whyte will take on former world title challenger Mariusz Wach (35-5, 19 KOs). Wach was due to face Whyte back in 2017 before ‘The Body Snatcher’ withdrew from their contest with an injured foot.
“I’m delighted to be fighting in Saudi Arabia against Mariusz Wach,” said Whyte. “He’s probably got one of the best chins in the heavyweight division.
“I have been training and working hard to fight so it’s great to get a date and it’s very exciting for me to be fighting somewhere different like Saudi Arabia.
“I want to fight in different places and different settings and this card has the biggest heavyweight fight on it that we have seen in years.
“I’m just going to keep chasing the world titles, so if I keep winning then I hope to land that world title shot in 2020, that’s the plan for December 7.”
In another added heavyweight bout, Tom Little (10-7, 3 KOs) will be targeting a huge upset against Mahammadrasul Majidov (1-0, 1 KO), the former world amateur champion.
“This wraps up a huge card for what will be a historic night for the sport,” said Eddie Hearn, Managing Director of Matchroom Boxing. “Ten big heavyweights will descend on Diriyah to cause a shockwave through world boxing as Saudi Arabia hosts one of the biggest heavyweight fights of all time. Ten days to go!”
Had one of the best chins in boxing but has been stopped in 3 of his last 8.
Great point Matt! Once the steel gets dented it usually doesn’t come back. It’s definitely a mental thing and maybe a little of the old aura of invincibility vanishing. This isn’t to say Wach had that aura, but it may well apply to the AJ vs Ruiz match up. It’s hard to come back from a beating and then couple that with the fact that AJ saw Ruiz get off the canvas after he landed his bomb.
White shouldn’t need steroids for this one. Probably has that all taken care of does Hearn.
Wach is not the same guy who fought Klitschko years ago personally I would have preferred a Whyte vs Dawejko or somebody who can make him work give him some kind of problems hopefully Wach will come in shape ready to fight.
It’s still an intriguing fight, although it seems like a bit of a walkover for Whyte. Gotta give Hearn some credit, this is an enticing card and a proper PPV event.
Love the Povetkin v Hunter fight
What a shame !
This punk should be banned from boxing !
He cheated obviously against Oscar Rivas !
He didn’t cheat, got cleared and they are going to make an announcement.
Get your facts right
What an incredible card! By the way, has anyone seen the latest pics of AJ? man he looks like he slimmed down and he looks totally ripped!
I always relate modern fights to older ones. I thought Ortiz-Wilder reminded me a lot of Wlad and Sam Peter’s fights. This reminds me of Lennox and Rahman. Even though Ruiz isn’t much like Rahman, I still think it’s a case of a much better fighter assuming he has light work and coming in without focus. I think a focused Joshua shows his stuff in this one with an easy win. If this fight even shows to be competitive, I’ll be very surprised.
I thought Whyte got caught with dbol ~ breakfast of champions?
So did Luis Ortiz, and he still got two title fights after the fact. The problem with these hardcore steroids like D-Bol, Turinabol, etc is once you stop using them, you tend to regress a lot. I assume that’s why Jon Jones is still testing positive. He’s got the UFC covering for him, but he’s had to be using a bunch. No matter how good of a test you run, these oral steroids only stay in your system for a couple days.
Why is Whyte even allowed to fight? He failed another drug test and used unauthorized gloves in his last bout. We’ve yet to hear the results of the B sample to date. This bout provides nothing of substance for the division or even the sport itself. As for Hearn; his recent actions in making fights for guys suspended for drug offenses as well as his secret meetings with commission officials is as underhanded as one can be. I don’t trust this man at all if I had a fighter facing one of his guys.