Dillian Whyte Could be Facing Another Ban from Boxing

On Saturday night Dillian Whyte put himself in pole position to get a shot at Deontay Wilders WBC title after out pointing Colombian Oscar Rives. However has he put all that in jeopardy as reports have emerged that he tested positive for a banned substance.

At a packed out O2 arena Whyte put on a boxing masterclass to win a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Colombian after surviving a knockdown in the 9th round, to win the fight 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111 on the judges’ cards.

Earlier this week reports emerged claiming that Whyte failed a drugs test on the 17th July, and his promoter and the British Boxing Bored of Control knew about the result before the fight nevertheless the fight went ahead as planned.

In order to quash some of the rumours surrounding Whyte his promoter Eddie Hearn took to Twitter to release this :

As you can see he says that both fighters were cleared to fight on Saturday night but surely if you where 100% sure that your man was clean you would have come out and categorically denied that Dillian Whyte had done anything wrong.

So what happens next the UKAD have declined to comment to what will happen next with Whyte, but as we all know the B sample normally backs up the A sample, so it is looking increasingly likely that his case will be referred to the National Anti-Doping Panel.

The whole situation apart from been a real mess, could take years to resolve. It’s a similar situation to the Tyson Fury case when he was given a 2 year backed dated ban.

This is not the first time that Dillian Whyte has been in trouble with doping back in 2012 he was banned after testing positive for Methylhexaneamine.

At the moment however it is important to remember that nothing has happened yet so Saturdays result is still official and Dillian Whyte is still the number one contender for the WBC title, and his 10 fight winning streak goes on.

As always I love to hear what you guys think what should happen to Dillian Whyte if in fact he is found guilty again?

The Heavyweight Saga Continued

The Heavyweight devision at the minute although booming is in a mess, with everyone expecting an announcement last week on Anthony Joshua’s next opponent this week the saga continued.

It was widely expected that Joshua V Whyte 2 would be announced last week but speaking last Saturday at the O2 Dillian Whyte said that the Joshua fight was dead. It has been reported that Whyte was offered 5 million pounds to fight Joshua at Wembley Stadium on the 13th April but he turned it down opting instead to chase a fight with Dominic Breazeale to cement his position as mandatory challenger, which I can fully understand because as a mandatory challenger he would demand more money. However Whyte is now nearly 31 so he’s not going to have many more years left at the top level. I understand that Whyte knows what he’s worth I also understand that boxing is a business but if he keeps taking fights for the payday he may miss his chance to fight for a world title, and if he keeps taking hard fights he’s putting a lot of miles on the clock. Surely there comes a point when you have to forget about money and just fight for the title, and if he wins then he can write his own ticket.

As we all know Wembley Stadium has been booked for Joshua on 13th April since before he fought Povetkin unfortunately that now looks almost certain to be cancelled. Which is a shame for every British boxing fan that has had that date circled on their calendar for nearly 2 years. I agree that Joshua is the Heavyweight champion of the world so he needs to defend his titles around the world, but first I think he should fulfil his commitment to his British fans who has supported him since day one

It’s now looking increasingly likely that Joshua will be making his American debut on the 1st June at the Mecca of boxing Madison Square Garden in New York against Jarrell Miller. The biggest problem with this fight is that Miller isn’t even a household name in his own country. There’s no question that the money would still be huge but it’s not all about the money it’s about the fans and the Miller fight is only going to appeal to your hardcore boxing fan and not the public as a whole and it’s when the casual boxing fans get involved in a fight that it really takes on a life of its own.

I know it’s sounds like I’m just having a go at Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn but I’m not Joshua’s next fight is not the only fight that struggling to be made as on Tuesday the 5th February the WBC announced that they have extended the deadline for purse bids for the rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury . This means that both sides have got another week of free negotiations. However if purse bids cannot be agreed by next Tuesday 12th February the fight will be made with a 60-40 split in Wilder’s favour.

We know that Anthony Joshua wanted to fight Wilder for the undisputed heavyweight championship at Wembley on the 13th April but that fight couldn’t be made as the WBC insisted that Wilder fights Fury next.

I know this post sounds like I’m just having a rant but I’m not I’m just sick of politics ruining the sport that we love and if it keeps going this way it’s not only going to be the Heavyweight devision that will be in trouble it’s going to be the sport as a whole. If we don’t see the best fighting the best the public will lose interest and then the sport is at risk of dying out.

I apologise if this post sounds more like a rant I just don’t like the way our sport is going I think fighters and promoters need to remember that it’s not all about the money it’s about entertaining the fans. As always I love to hear what you guys think. How would you like to see the mess of the Heavyweight devision get resolved?

Who Will Anthony Joshua Next Opponent Be?

With an announcement expected by promoter Eddie Hearn this week about Anthony Joshua’s next opponent everybody what’s to know who it’s going to be, so in this post I’ll be looking at the top contenders.

The 13th April has been in every boxing fans diary for a while and rumours have been running riot about his next opponent ever since he knocked out Alexander Povetkin back in September last year. With the fight less than 3 months away I think we all know who’s on the short list, with the likes of Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte and Jarrell Miller all been mentioned. There’s no question that any of those fighters would make a great fight with Anthony Joshua but who’s it going to be.

I think at the top of all boxing fans wish lists is a fight between Joshua and Wilder for the undisputed world championship. I have to admit I am one of them, however at least for this fight I think a fight with Wilder is unlikely for one main reason the WBC has ordered a rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, so if Wilder takes the fight with Joshua he runs the risk of been stripped of the world title.

After that stunning fight with Deontay Wilder Tyson Fury has put himself right back into the world title picture. Unfortunately this fight also looks unlikely as the two teams could not come to an agreement, as Tyson Fury wanted a 50-50 purse split and the best Eddie Hearn offered was a 60-40 split in Joshua’s favour. The irony is that he is taking a 60-40 split in Wilder’s favour to make their rematch happen.

In 2015 Dillian Whyte took on Anthony Joshua in a spectacular fight, since that fight both men have only improved as fighters. After Whyte’s last fight Joshua publicly offered him the rematch if he couldn’t get Wilder, but once again it seems despite the fact that both men are promoted by Eddie Hearn it seems like they can not come to an agreement. So much so that it has been reported that Whyte has begun negotiations with Dominic Breazeale. However Whyte has another problem he is currently a free agent as he has not renewed his contract with Matchroom and it is looking increasingly unlikely that he will. Instead it looks like he’s going to sign with Frank Warren or Showtime boxing and if that happens the fight may be harder to make

Jarrell Miller is also on most people short list as he has been calling out Joshua on social media for a while, and to be honest I think Joshua wants to shut him up. However according to some reports Miller won’t be ready for the April date, a number of reports are suggesting that the pair could meet in June at Madison Square Garden in New York. If those reports are true will that put the April date in jeopardy. Due to the fact it is unlikely that Joshua is going to be ready to fight again in June if he fights in April.

I know this is one of those blog post that has more questions than answers, but until the announcement is made it’s all speculation. With that in mind I love to hear what you think comment below and let me know who you would like to see Anthony Joshua fight next.

Who Should Anthony Joshua Fight On The 13th April?

On Saturday Anthony Joshua successfully defended his world titles with a 7th round knockout of Alexander Povetkin. The question on everyone’s lips now is who is Anthony Joshua going to face on the 13th April?

After that stunning knockout we all know that Joshua will be back at Wembley on the 13th April next year, with the stadium booked the big question now is who is he going to fight? With the Heavyweight devision booming at the moment here are 5 names that I think could find themselves at the top of the list:

1. Deontay Wilder

I think this fight is on everyone’s boxing wish list at some point it has to happen. It looked all set to happen earlier this year, with Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn saying that Joshua has signed his half of the contract and they were just waiting for Wilder and his team to get back to them. For whatever reason the fight didn’t happen. Now the WBC champion has opted to take on Tyson Fury on the 1st December in Los Angeles, some people think he’s taking on Fury because he believes that he’s got a better chance of beating Fury than he has at beating Joshua Unfortunately because of the fight with Fury I can’t see him been ready or willing to fight Joshua in April. Whatever happens on the 1st December this is a fight that has to happen at some point.

2. Tyson Fury

18 months ago this fight was probably not even on Joshua’s radar but ever since Fury came back to the ring and even before than he was calling Joshua out. After the fight on Saturday Fury took straight to social media saying it was a poor performance and warning Joshua to stay away from him. I know this is a fight that the boxing public wants to see, and I think it is a fight that Joshua wants even if it is only to shut Fury up. However I can see the same problem with this fight as with the Wilder fight the timing. With Fury challenging for the world title in December is he going to want to fight again in April. The one thing that might temp either Wilder or Fury back into the ring in April could be the fact that the fight would be for the undisputed heavyweight world title.

3. Dillian Whyte

I think this would be a fight that all British boxing fans would love to see again. There first fight back in 2015 was a fight of the year candidate. Whyte became the first man to hurt Joshua as a professional and the first man to take Joshua past the 4th round before Whyte was stopped in the 7th round. Since then Whyte has done well to rebuild his career and put himself on the verge of a world title shot. In his last fight he went the distance with Joseph Parker to retain his WBC Sliver title and win the WBO International title. So if Joshua wanted to go down the mandatory route then Whyte could be a good choice. To be honest I think this could be the most likely fight for 13th April, Whyte hasn’t fought since July so if the fight was made I can see Whyte needing a warm up fight first.

4. Hughie Fury

On the 27th October Hughie Fury is fighting Kubrat Pulev in a final eliminator for the IBF title. So if he wins this fight it will make him the mandatory challenger for the IBF title. With his fight taking place in October he should be able to fight again in April. Some people think that this fight may come too soon for him, but if he did fight Joshua it wouldn’t be his first fight for a world title in 2017 he lost a controversial split decision to then champion Joseph Parker. He has already made it public that he would be happy to take on Joshua in April.

5. Jarrell Miller

Both Anthony Joshua and Jarrell Miller have been having something of a war of words over social media. During the world press conference for Joshua’s last fight with Povetkin Miller got up on the stage and got in Joshua’s face. Afterward Joshua said that if he wants the fight he’s happy to fight him.

I think all these possible opponents would make for a real entertaining fight to watch and there’s no doubt that any of these fights would sell out Wembley. Unfortunately this is going to be another case were we just have to wait and see. As always I love to hear what you guys think so please comment below whom would you like to see Anthony Joshua fight on the 13th April?

Is Dillian Whyte The Heavyweight Divisions Forgotten man?

At the moment I think we can all agree that boxing is booming around the world, but particularly the heavyweight division. With everyone talking about the likes of Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker and Deontay Wilder, many people are even talking about Tyson Fury getting into the world title picture. Nobody is talking about Dillian Whyte in the same breath has he become the heavyweight divisions forgotten man?

The Body Snatcher is back in action in the ring this weekend when he makes his first defence of his WBC Sliver title. Normally if he was to win a fight like this he would be first in line for a shot at Wilder’s title but somehow I can’t see that happening, so my question is why? In 2012 his career looked all but over when he tested positive for the banned drug Metlhexanamie as a result he was banned from boxing for 2 years. He stepped back into the ring on the 28th November 2014 when he knocked out Thomas Mrazek in the 3rd round. He then went on a 5 fight knockout streak winning the WBC International Sliver title along the way.

Then on the 12th December 2015 thanks in large part to social media he got the fight he had been demanding against Anthony Joshua in a true boxing classic

Despite losing the fight it did his career no harm because he was the first man to take Joshua past the 3rd round and he was the first man to land clean on Joshua’s chin and rock him, before been knocked out in the 7th round. For most boxers losing a fight means that they have to go back and rebuild, but this fight put him back on the world map and his name on the lips of boxing fans he was been talked about then as a future world champion but it still hasn’t happened for him.

After the Joshua fight he had a long lay off to deal with a shoulder injury, however his in ring career continued to go from strength to strength in 2016 he joined up with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom in the hope of getting that elusive title shot. 1 fight after he lost to Joshua he was in a title fight for the WBC International title a fight he won by unanimous decision. Again people where talking about him taking on Wilder, but instead he fought Ian Lewison for the British title winning the fight with a 10th round stoppage.

On the 10 December 2016 on the undercard of the Joshua Molina fight he took on his long time domestic rival Derick Chisora in an eliminator for the WBC title. The pair went to war for 12 hard rounds, with the fight going one way then the other he won a tight split decision in one of the best fights I have ever seen. Again people where talking about him challenging Wilder but once again the fight never happened. In his next fight he made a dramatic statement on his US debut scoring a 3rd round knockout over Malcolm Tann.

In his next fight he once again won a WBC title when he won the WBC Sliver title winning a unanimous decision over Robert Helenius. So it seems to me like he’s done everything he should have done to earn a shot at the WBC title and if he wins on Saturday that should move him to the head of the line. Now don’t get me wrong I would love to see Joshua take on Wilder to unify the titles but assuming that he wins on Saturday and Joshua beats Parker I think he should get a shot at the title before Joshua.

I know that this is a controversial subject that is no doubt going to divide opinions but think about it what is the point of having international and sliver titles or title eliminators if you don’t get a shot at the world title.

I love to hear from you guys so comment below and let me know your thoughts is Dillian Whyte the forgotten man.