In a rematch, Dillian Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) got his revenge by stopping Alexander Povetkin (36-3-1, 25 KOs) in the fourth round to reclaim the WBC interim heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Europa Point Sports Complex in Gibraltar. Whyte took the fight to Povetkin in round one. Both attempted to land haymakers as the bout progressed with Whyte connecting more often. Whyte finally dropped Povetkin in round four. He beat the count but the bout was waved off. Time was 2:39. The 41-year-old Povetkin seemed shaky from the get-go, possibly from contracting Covid-19 a few months ago.
“I’m happier for my team than I am for me because some of my staff missed Christmas with their families,” Whyte told Matchroom. “They stayed back to help me train. They did so much behind the scenes to get me into the position for a world title fight.
“I was so close, and then one lapse in concentration and I made a mistake. Tonight, I was like ‘yo’, I’m looking to beat some ass tonight. I was trying to get it done in the first round but then I had to relax. Anybody on the planet that gets hit with that left hook, they’re going down. Some of them might get up but most will stay down. He was kind of badly hurt. Now I feel bad. I want him to go home to his family healthy.
“Everyone says a lot of things about me like I’m not this and I’m not that. These guys don’t know me. These guys don’t know what I’m capable of and what I can do. When I read the comments about me, I just laugh. I just laugh at these guys because I’m as strong as steel.
“One loss, two losses, so what? It was a good learning fight for me because I had to think in there. I was rushing him but I had to think also. He’s still very heavy-handed and he’s still very good. I’m going to spend some time with my family and just relax. I’ll probably call Eddie tomorrow and ask him what we’re doing next. I want to make the most of it now and retire good and healthy.”
Well ummm, I guess I was wrong. Congrats to Whyte for his revenge win…
Anyone wanna see Wilder Vs Whyte?
Same here brother, I was wrong. I predicted Provektin to win. I really did feel Provektin had an edge going into the fight since he appeared so focused and ready to prove his first KO was not a fluke. Not the first time I have been wrong. I am okay to admit when I am wrong. Have a great evening!
You too brother…
Wilder is washed up. Whyte in 2.
I would love to see that fight I think White kicks the shit out of Wilder that’s a fight I’ve wanted to see for the last few years, why not make the fight because Fury and Jousha are gonna fight twice this year and the winner could fight the winner of the Jousha and Fury which I think Fury smokes Jousha at least that’s my opinion!
Not impressed , he beat a 41 year old who just had COVID, and was off from the start of the fight . Wilder will ko this slow bum
He had covid-19 before the fight shouldn’t be an excuses plz cuz if he hasn’t recovered he won’t be in the ring in the 1st place, plus he passed the med screening & was given the go ahead for the fight. The guy was beaten period
Don’t make excuses. Povetkin was on the juice and popped many times. Maybe him not being on the sauce is why he lost.
BKE, the only bum is Wilder who will battered to death by Whyte.
Maybe you missed Wilders last fight where he was getting bounced around like a basketball.
Fury will eat Whyte for breakfast, and under Eddy Reynoso, I think Andy Ruiz can give Whyte his 3rd loss too.
AJ vs Whyte 2 is a close call.
Whyte would knock Deontay Wilder out in 2 rounds.
Agree about Whyte and Wilder. Fury exposed Wilder and Whyte will put him away inside 2 rounds.
Seriously, do u think so.
Okay ,give Dillian his overdue shot now he deserves it!!! Povetkin is another worthy opponent he has defeated!!
watching Whyte going in for the stoppage reminded me of Tim Witherspoon throwing the overhead shots affectionately called “The Can Opener”.
* walking a chair over to Povetkin …. extremely classy
I was wrong and lost my money as well, but Those wild swings of Whyte would get him in trouble against one of the young guns. Yoka would beat him in my opinion.
Povetkin looked old and had no legs from the start, good win for Whyte.
In all honesty, they both looked really amateurish. Povetkin had no legs when he entered the ring. His career is finished. Whyte? The next tough opponent he faces will end his career. This fight came down to who landed the first big haymaker!
Yes, that was a pretty sad exhibition. Povetkin used to be a very good fighter, but at 41yo and showing terrible balance and stamina, possibly as a result of his recent COVID infection, he looked shot.
And despite the fact that he won the fight, Whyte looked slow, clumsy and wild. Of course, outside of AJ and Fury, he’s got the best resume in the division so should be in line for a big payday soon. And after that performance it’s hard to imagine that anyone is avoiding him.
Here we go with the excuses
Amateurish …… have you ever boxed before ?? Two top 6 heavyweights , amateurish ….. deary me !!
Webby, yeah, amateurish in the sense they were both throwing wide, looping shots with no regard for defense.
Povetkin had no balance. He was on unsteady legs from the start. Age, Covid19 combined with Whytes punches was the factors in defeat.
“…combined with Whytes punches was the factors in defeat.”
Pov was stumbling all around the ring starting 40 seconds into the fight and at that point i didn’t see any Whyte punch land.
Excuses excuses now make some for fighters who lost to povetkin
What a sick person. So you’re just going to make up ALLLLLLLLLLLLL of these excuses shamelessly but if Povetkin won you would sing his praises, GTFO.
Whatever the reason is, Povetkin is not the same anymore.
Let’s be honest. A younger Povetkin would have knocked out Whyte.
Best fight for Whyte is against an Eddy Reynoso trained Andy Ruiz.
Ruiz will stop Whyte in 8. It will be a great fight.
Let’s also be honest. Povetkin made his name beating up on old has been fighters while he was young and full of supplements. Now he’s getting a taste of his own sauce
So you’re not going to give Whyte his credit? You made an excuse as to why Povetkin lost but if he would have won he wouldn’t have been to old GTFO. Ruiz is fighting someone else so why are you worried about that fight. Ruize has to defeat the refrigerator first.
You got that right! I doubt he gets past the refrigerator lol fuck Ruiz he had his shot and blew it, he could have been on top of the world but decided to eat instead of train for the rematch with Jousha!
Honestly, he Ruined the biggest opportunity. He was so hungry that he so much ate all what his hands could find and his eye could see instead of training. He lacks discipline and really, his dad called ,advised him but he didn’t listen. It might take him time to get it right again.
Michael Hunter Jr. would be best served moving down to bridgerweight . He can win a world title there.
If he fights White, I can think can beat him. Hunter’s IQ is too high for Whyte to deal with.
Agree, Hunter Jr. is just too small for these oversize heavyweights. Povetkin would have been better suited to bridgerweight as well of course.
Ok, it’s done and over… NOW, it’s time for both to retire … YES , BOTH.. To think that Whyte has a chance in the heavyweight divison is crazy… powerful but SLOW.. VERY SLOW indeed … GEITCH !!! What more can I say …
Povetkin looked like shit. You could tell before the fight the shape he was in that he wasn’t there. Every exchange he was off by six inches. Whyte looked great but I don’t think this fight tells us anything.
Whyte proved me wrong. Usually a fighter doesn’t come back strong after having been knocked out cold, but Whyte did it. Congrats. Maybe the COVID-19 had affected Povetkin in a bad way.
“Maybe the COVID-19 had affected Povetkin in a bad way.”
He looked sick. He didn’t appear to be normal and healthy. Like the commentators said, no head movement, and i didn’t see anything land when he was wobbling off the ropes at 40 seconds into rd 1, unless it was the wind from Whyte’s missed punches.
Maybe Povetkin being off the gas affected him in a bad way. He’s been popped a few times for PEDS.
Whyte was throwing wide, crude shots in the first round and missing most of them. He was trying to take Povetkin’s head off with them but merely looked amateurish and frequently off-balance when he missed. Povetkin looked unsteady on his legs from the beginning and was rocked off-balance by glancing punches.
Whyte finally settled down and had the most success with punches straight from the shoulder. The final shot was a wide left hook, but it landed flush on a stationary Povetkin with his chin wide open.
It was a win but it sure didn’t look like two top heavyweight contenders in the ring. Anyway, Whyte won convincingly and maybe he’ll look good next time. Povetkin just looked finished and should retire.
From the time he left the dressing room you knew Povetkin was not looking confident. The respect Whyte showed him after the fight is second to none
I have seen in boxing. Bringing him his own stool and not celebrating his victory like most would have. He won all 3 rounds prior to the stoppage. He and Wilder like Eddie Hearn suggested would be a good one in the US.
Something was badly wrong with Povetkin. 40 seconds into the fight he wasn’t even hit with anything and he was stumbling all around the ring.
If he was still sick with the Covid why did they let him fight?
Still haven’t actually seen the fight yet, being that I can’t find a version on YouTube that doesn’t do that annoying choppy replay that alternates from an up close angle to a normal shot continuously. Happy for Whyte though. He’s more than paid his dues. Give the man a title shot, even if he is likely to lose.
Just a meaningless side note here, but in the photo above the article here, it looks like Povetkin is sitting on an invisible recliner.
is there a third one now? lolol
then 4,5 and 6? lolol
Povetkin had an old fighters legs which makes sense considering he is 41.
Congratulations to Whyte, but there was something clearly wrong with Povetkin that was apparent in the first round. The commentators even brought it up and Sasha just didn’t look steady or balanced at all tonight. Whyte wasn’t better tonight than in the first fight, Alexander was worse.
Povetkin needs to hang them up now. Old age is clearly setting in and he’s only a heavyweight, trying to fight super heavyweights. Povetkin from the first fight would have knocked out tonight’s Whyte. I’m certain of it.
Whyte vs Joyce or Usyk would be interesting too
Congrats Whyte. One thing you can’t doubt is his hunger.
Re Povetkin and Covid theory – Covid is one of those things where symptoms can come and go for a long time after you have it. He may well have been affected but it may not have affected him in training camp and so they went through with the fight on that basis? Only he will know and he may not want to give Wilders (I mean excuses) because of the type of guy he is.
However , I said before this fight that it will still be a long wait before he gets his shot should he win. I’d possibly still look at trying to get the Charles Martin fight to get him up there with the IBF who are stricter with their mandatories.
Wilder or Ruiz would be good but I get the sense that Wilder doesn’t really want to fight and is delusional about what he should get paid.
Well done whyte. You are among the best fighters in generation.
Let the excuses begin! Povetkin has beaten so many used to be decent over the hill fighters in his career and I never heard a povetkin fan say a word about it. Now you wanna talk about age and all that jazz
Povetkin looked shot.
About Povetkin and covid-19, it could be a factor in this fight, not only age.
I had covid-19 almost exactly a year ago. I still feel how the virus from time to time is floating around in the body. It gets better over time but it is still, at occasions, affecting me. I will not bother you with everything, but at times I get dizzy and almost wobbly for no reason, there are less horse-powers and stamina in the body, even though I am “fully “recovered”, and I once fell and stayed unconscious several minutes without being hit, using substances and so on, it was more like turning off the light in the middle of a walk.
So I think covid-19 still could be a factor in this case, and I wonder if that was the same with Beterbiev, looking rather pale in his last fight.
I have much respect for both boxers. Best luck to you both.
Wilder is a brawler, he’s tailor made for Whyte. He would ko”ed in 4. That right is his only weapon but my God what a bomb!
Andy Ruiz can shut up this guy in round 2
Povetkin is ill.You could see that from ringwalk.
Too easy. This is what the first fight would have been in a few more rounds but Povetkin was lucky. Was expecting a few more rounds but Whyte said screw that, he is a statement fighter. Would like to see Whyte vs Wilder also. Whyte will have Wilder out of there within 8 rds also.
Each and every person in the comments counted Whyte out and has to eat their words……except for me of course lol
heavyweight division worst ever ,
COVID or no COVID Pov was beaten has down, Whyte came back really hungry for a win and he got it.
I want wilder match up with white this year,let’s go.
Nothing impressive about Whyte, the Fighting Caveman. He outweighed Povetkin by 20 lbs. Povetkin is old and not quite recovered from having Covid. In any other era, Whyte wouldn’t even be in the top 50 among heavyweights.
Fighting Willder would be a great matchup but no way is Whyte dumb enough to risk a title shot again.