Dillian Whyte's defeat to Alexander Povetkin could hasten Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury fight

[ASFN Admin]

Dillian Whyte will exercise his right to a rematch with Alexander Povetkin for the World Boxing Council Interim heavyweight title after his plans to meet the winner of the Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder fight were scuppered by a brutal knockout in Brentwood on Saturday. It was a stunning turnaround by Povetkin, whose left uppercut in the fifth round ended a compelling contest. Whyte had looked on course for victory after the 40-year-old - who has only lost to Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua in a long career in world title challenges - was down twice in the fourth stanza. Yet heavyweight boxing was ever thus. One punch can change the course of history - and this was a beauty. Whyte, having outboxed the former Olympic champion by using his jab effectively and unsettling him with body shots, had his ambitions and his senses taken from him in an act of heavyweight artistry which reversed the course of the contest. It was a punch, and ending, that will live long in the memory, and will be replayed over and again. Whyte, the arch survivor, was as shocked as the few in attendance on Saturday, but had regained his composure when he assessed the fight yesterday. “I was bossing it but I got clocked, it’s heavyweight boxing,” said Whyte, who had suffered a similarly spectacular blow in the only other defeat of his career, to Anthony Joshua five years ago. Povetkin admitted that he had planned the counter punch in training, having seen the mistake on footage. But Whyte remained upbeat. “It’s not like I got beat up round after round, I got clocked, that’s all. He dipped low, I shot the hook, he came with the uppercut and that was it.

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