Hearn wants Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin in June

Boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid

Eddie Hearn says he would like to match Dillian Whyte against Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin in June if he’s interested in taking the fight. Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs) demolished David Price in 5th round knockout last Saturday night on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker card at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

There’s not enough time for Povetkin to go through an entire training camp for him to face Whyte in June. That’s only 2 months away. Asking Povetkin to go straight into another training camp to face Whyte in two months from now in June is totally unreasonable. If Whyte was a 2nd tier heavyweight like David Price, then it would make sense, but that’s not the case. For Povetkin to face a top tier heavyweight in the class of Whyte, he needs to get rest and get ready for the fight. It would be a rush job if Povetkin went back into training camp now to get ready for Whyte.

So it seems that another one of Joshua’s potential future opponents is being asked to go through Whyte first before they can get a fight with him. Before Hearn turned his sights to Povetkin to face Whyte, the British promoter was interested in having WBC heavyweight champion face the ‘Body Snatcher’ to help build up the Joshua fight. Wilder, of course, rejected that idea, as it’s not the fight that he wants, and he says he doesn’t like Hearn dictated to him who he should be fighting.

Hearn should just let Povetkin fight Joshua straightaway without pushing for him to face a risky opponent like Whyte, but then again if he does that, AJ might lose. It is kind of sad that threats to Joshua’s title reign are being directed by Hearn towards Whyte for them to have to go through him. Hearn doesn’t quite realize that Whyte is not in the same league as Povetkin or Wilder.

Even if those guys agree to fight Whyte, they’re likely going to knock him out and take the judges out of the equation. Whyte won a controversial 12 round decision over Dereck Chisora two years ago in December 2016. Wilder and Povetkin won’t let themselves lose a controversial decision to Whyte too. They’ll make sure they pressure him until he falls apart. Wilder would likely make quick work of Whyte, and Povetkin would get him out of there by the 10th. He just has way too much talent for Whyte.

I hate to say it, but Hearn will be making a HUGE mistake if he lets Whyte fight Povetkin next, because he doesn’t have the kind of talent needed to beat the Russian heavyweight in my view. Whyte isn’t going to defeat Povetkin with his jab, and if he tries to mix it up with him like he did against the painfully slow Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne, he’s going to get nailed with left hooks and likely stopped. Whyte is little more than another version of Carlos Takam, but without his mobility, fearlessness, stamina and chin. I see Whyte as a poor man’s version of Takam. If Hearn doesn’t want to see Whyte beaten by Povetkin, he’ll keep him far away from him.

Whyte (23-1, 17 KOs) immediately said after the fight that he’d like to face the 38-year-old Povetkin next if he’s interested in that fight. Povetkin is already the WBA mandatory challenger for Joshua, and he’s waiting for his title shot. Hearn was happy to have Povetkin help build up the Joshua fight last Saturday by fighting the 6’8” Price. It’s unclear whether Hearn was hoping the 34-year-old Price would beat Povetkin and remove a very serious threat to Joshua’s reign as the unified heavyweight champion. Whatever the case, it didn’t work out well for Price, as he was royally smashed by Povetkin in 5 rounds. Povetkin didn’t have to take that fight. He could have just sat and waited until Hearn got around to making the fight with Joshua, but he still wanted it. But now Povetkin is being asked to fight another one of Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing stable fighters in 29-year-old Whyte, and I don’t know if he’ll be willing to take that fight unless there’s a lot of money in it for him.

“[Povetkin] will be mandatory for Joshua but I’ve got another heavyweight who wants to fight Povetkin in June, if he wants it,” Hearn said to skysports.com.

Hearn asking Povetkin to fight Whyte seems like a transparent move by Eddie to get the Russian fighter beaten to remove him as a threat to Joshua. Has Whyte become the bodyguard for Joshua? Why should fighters like Deontay and Povetkin have to go through Whyte (23-1, 17 KOs) just to get the fight with Joshua? It seems like a wasted move. Hearn needs to realize that there aren’t that many interesting opponents for Joshua to fight in the heavyweight division right now. If he’s going to be forever trying to get the top guys to fight Whyte, he’s going to be reducing the amount of options for Joshua to fight. It’s better to keep Whyte, Wilder and Povetkin moving in their own separate lanes BEFORE they eventually face Joshua. But I’m seeing things from a practical point of view. Hearn is setting things up where there’s a mini-tournament where the top guys pick each other off to pick out an eventual opponent for Joshua to fight. I think that’s a dumb idea, because even if Joshua beats that heavyweight, he’s going to be left with no one else to fight except the no name contenders.

“I’d fight him next. I just told him. He said he’d fight me next. [Promoter Eddie Hearn] said he’d make it,” Whyte said to skysports.com. I’d fight [Povetkin] next. I just told him. He said he’d fight me next.”

It’s a waste of time for Povetkin to have to face #1 WBC Whyte to get to a fight with Joshua. Unless Hearn makes it worthwhile for Povetkin to take the fight with Whyte by offering him huge money, he doesn’t need to make this unnecessary step just to get his WBA mandated title shot against Joshua. If Hearn offers Povetkin $3 million to take the fight, my guess is he’ll accept that offer in a heartbeat. If Hearn wants to offer ANOTHER one of his Matchroom Boxing stable fighters to Povetkin, he should feed Dereck Chisora to him. That would be a nice little tidbit for Povetkin to keep him happy while he waits for Hearn to finally let him get his title shot against Joshua.

Povetkin’s 5th round highlight reel knockout of David Price last Saturday night was a thing of beauty. Povetkin landed a crushing right hand to the head of Price that froze him and had him out on his feet. Povetkin then followed with a left hook that sent the stork-like Price down on his back for the knockout. Price wasn’t able to get up for several moments. It was a scary knockout. Afterwards, Hearn seemed ensure whether Price should fight on with his career. On the one hand, Hearn was impressed with how Price had slightly hurt Povetkin with a left hook in round 3, but on the other hand, he’s concerned about the many brutal knockouts he’s suffered in the last five year.

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