Dillian Whyte: “Fighting without fans is no problem”
Now that it seems boxing is about to come back, the biggest question is who will be willing to fight without fans in attendance. Many fighters have stated they won’t fight without an audience, while others have expressed the situation not being a problem.
However, the fans probably wouldn’t care one way or the other as long as we can get our thirst quenched. This brings us to WBC Interim/mandatory challenger Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte (27-1, 18ko).
The British heavyweight was all set to face another former title contender in Alexander “White Lion” Povetkin (35-2-1, 24ko). The two combatant’s May 2 bout, like many others, fell victim to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Eager to get back into the ring to produce, as he calls it, “Maximum Violence,” The Body Snatcher was asked about fighting without fans by British promoter Eddie Hearn and former cruiserweight champion Tony “Bomber” Bellew (30-3-1, 20ko) on their show called Talk the Talk.
“I’m a fighter anyway, I’m willing to fight anywhere, I’m willing to throw up a brawl, anyway and anywhere. I’ve calmed down a lot in that way.”
“But it’s not a problem with me. We’ve been in gyms, we’ve been in many camps sparring, we’ve had harder fights in the gym. I’ve had harder fights in the gym than in the ring with just me, my coach and their coach.”
Ok, now this is where it got very interesting.
Hearn tried to sneak in the name Andy Ruiz as part of a three-fight schedule. There has been a very public feud between the former unified champion and the Brixton heavyweight. There were attempts at making a fight before. Moreover, Ruiz’s ambiguous claim about the facts surrounding the offer forced Whyte to respond with proof that, indeed, an offer was made.
So obviously, when The Body Snatcher heard the name Ruiz, he quickly interrupted his promoter and sent a quick jab at the former unified champion, along with a clearcut demand.
“No no no, forget Andy Ruiz. I want Joshua or Tyson Fury after Povetkin. Forget Andy Ruiz, Andy Ruiz got a big fight with diabetes at the minute. Not type 1, type 2, the bad one.”
By: Garrisson Bland
