Heavyweights Dillian Whyte and Ian Lewison, both from the London neighborhood of Brixton, will meet for the vacant British title on Oct. 7 at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced Friday.
Whyte (18-1, 14 KOs), 28, and Lewison (12-2-1, 8 KOs), 34, will fight on the card headlined by junior welterweight titlist Ricky Burns, who is defending his belt against mandatory challenger Kiryl Relikh.
Whyte will be looking for his third win in a row since suffering a seventh-round knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in a slugfest for the vacant British title last December and then undergoing shoulder surgery.
Lewison has won five fights in a row since dropping a three-round decision to American Derric Rossy in 2013 in the semifinals of a “Prizefighter” tournament.
“I’m going to KO him,” Whyte said. “He’s dangerous for a couple of rounds, but I’ll show him that I’m the best out of south London. I’m the best. Ian will get banged out; he is going to try and swing because he has got no other choice.
“There’s no friends in this game; boxing is a business and he talks a lot like he’s a hard man, but he’s just a little tramp. He has been around for years and finally got himself a win in China [on June 24] and a top-15 ranking in the WBO, so I want to beat him and take that ranking.”
Lewison also said he will win by knockout.
“Dillian needs to prepare himself to be 100 percent because I am and I’ll be knocking him out,” he said. “Dillian did what he had to do against [unbeaten David] Allen [on July 30], but he said before the fight that Dave didn’t deserve to be in the ring with him and that he was head and shoulders above Dave. I expected him to put it on him and show he was a league above him and take him out. He just sat back and boxed in cruise control for 10 rounds, though. He won’t be able to do that against me.”
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