Hearn on Whyte v Rivas: “Biggest Test of Dillian’s Career!”
After nearly two years of setbacks and maneuvering, Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte is finally going to get shot at WBC heavyweight gold….Maybe!
First, he has to emerge as the victor of his July 20 bout with Oscar “Kaboom” Rivas. The WBC recently announced the winner of Whyte v Rivas would be named the mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight strap in 2020.
Naturally, Whyte is confident that he will topple his opponent and continue on his collision course with Deontay Wilder. However, his promoter, Eddie Hearn, is not so carefree on the bout’s outcome.
In his estimation, Whyte v Rivas shares far too many commonalities with Joshua v Ruiz Jr for his comfort. Due to these numerous common threads, Hearn understands that there is no room for taking Kaboom lightly.
“Again, same scenario. In boxing, everyone is saying this is a 50/50 fight with Rivas. People in boxing saying Ruiz, this is a really tough opponent for AJ.
“But the general public and the general consensus is, ‘nah, nah, you’ll walk through this guy, he’s smaller, he’s not beaten anyone,’ etc, etc. So, I see this fight as a the biggest test of Dillian’s career so far.
“I see it as 50/50 fight and the final hurdle to be confirmed as that mandatory challenger.”
No Killers in Sight
Provided that Whyte does best Rivas, Hearn does not foresee the Body Snatcher facing anymore overly stern challenges before gets his shot at the WBC belt.
This doesn’t mean that Hearn is advocating for Whyte to clash with a senior citizen or full time Uber driver. He simply doesn’t think his UK big man will fight any of the prime heavyweight killers before his title shot.
“I mean if you’ve got the winner of Fury against Wilder, look at, he’s been in fights like Chrisora, Parker, Brown before that. Chrisora again, Oscar Rivas and then you’re the mandatory for the world title.
“Why would you fight Povetkin or Hrgovic or Usyk? I still don’t think he’ll take on an easy fight, but this is what he wanted to chase for so long and he’s finally got it.
“I’m worried about this fight, to be honest with you. I see so many similarities in the build-up to Joshua/Ruiz that I see in the build-up to Whyte/Rivas.”
By: Bakari Simpson
