Dillian Whyte gives his opinion of Deontay Wilder and speaks on Oscar Rivas.
On Saturday, July 20, UK heavyweight Dillian “Body Snatcher” Whyte (25-1, 18 KO’s) has a tough assignment against the heavy-handed former Olympian Oscar “Kaboom” Rivas (26-0, 18 KO’s). The two big men will face off at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London. Sky Box Office will televise the event.
Whyte should have enough on his hands with the upcoming match-up. However, whenever he is in the headlines, he has remained relentlessly preoccupied with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder.
The silver champion has persisted as the number one contender in the WBC rankings for nearly two years. The Body Snatcher has loudly vocalized his displeasure with the situation whenever he’s been afforded the opportunity. He believes that Wilder has successfully avoided him with the assistance of the sanctioning body.
During an interview with Sky Sports Boxing, Whyte took the time to take a few more digs at Wilder. In the build-up to Wilder fighting a rematch with Bermane Stiverne, then later against Dominic Breazeale, the Alabama native came under fire for verbalizing his desire to kill a fighter in the ring.
According to Wilder, these are merely the utterances of his Bronze Bomber persona, which takes over when his fights approach. In Whyte’s opinion, it’s nothing more than frivolous tough talk.
“Wilder is just an idiot. I think he’s an idiot, he just talks nonsense. Listen, everyone gets a bit nervous, everyone gets a bit aggy […] I think with Wilder it’s more that he’s scared.
“He’s a nervy kind of guy. Why he says those things, you know, because you don’t see good fighters whose confident going around shouting about all this nonsense. You say your piece, you say what you gotta say.
“Someone’s giving you stick, you give it back and you just crack on.”
Putting the subject of Wilder to the side, Whyte assured that he is focused on Rivas regardless of what the perception on the outside may be. The Body Snatcher is fully aware the only way to remain in line for his shot at Wilder’s belt is to emerge victorious on July 20.
“I see in articles they say I’m overlooking him and his skills and whatever. I don’t pay much attention to that man, I don’t really care. Listen, I’m going in there to beat him up anyway.”
Despite his apparent bravado, Whyte does recognize that Rivas is a dangerous opponent and is preparing himself for the rough customer that he is. Given the amount of talking he has done in recent months and weeks, all eyes will certainly be on Whyte this July 20.
“There are lots of talks about this fight or that fight. I just try to focus on what I got do because Rivas is a dangerous opponent. He’s a world schooled guy, top level amateur, 26-0, 18 KO’s […] he deserves all the respect and I never overlook anyone and focus on me and what I got to do. That’s all I train to do.”
By: Bakari Simpson
