Leading heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte 28-2 (19) says that Deontay Wilder 42-2 (41) took more punishment than he needed to in his knockout loss to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 31-0-1 (22) in their trilogy fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
Wilder was down three times in the fight and took increasing punishment from the mid-rounds on. He found the canvas in the third, 10th and fatal 11th when he was put down for good.
In their previous bout in February last year, Fury stopped Wilder in the seventh after dropping him twice. Wilder’s then co-trainer Mark Breland threw in the towel.
After the fight Wilder sack Breland and replaced him with former opponent Malik Scott, who Whyte says did him a disservice by not stopping the fight.
“[Wilder] took a lot of punishment,” Whyte said to Sky Sports. “He could’ve finished his career potentially. Last time Mark Breland I think saved his career, this time he took way too much punishment and a lot of his corner were yes-men and they just allowed him to take too much punishment, which can be very detrimental to a fighter’s confidence and his body.
“He seemed pretty beat up. He was struggling from round three onwards badly. I know he says, ‘I’m a king and I’ll go out on my shield’ – but I think they allowed him to take too much punishment. It could affect him mentally, he could never wanna fight again, it could end his career. We’ll have to see.”
Whyte rebounded from his fifth-round knockout loss to Alexander Povetkin 36-3-1 (25) in August last year with a fourth-round knockout victory in his immediate rematch against the Russian veteran this past March.
Next up is a dangerous fight against Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin 22-1 (14) at the O2 Arena in London, England on October 30. Wallin’s lone loss came to Fury in a fight that saw him open up multiple cuts on the Gypsy King’s face.
Victory will likely lead Whyte, who hold the WBC interim title, into a fight against Fury. The 33-year-old Londoner has been the leading contender for the green belt for many years.
But Whyte isn’t convinced Fury will face him and thinks the champion might simply opt to walk away from the sport.
“Fury has the belt. Wilder had the chance to fight me for three years but didn’t,” Whyte said.
“Hopefully now the WBC forces my position and Fury has no choice. It’s a massive British fight, a major fight for Britain. Fury is an unpredictable man who might say: ‘I am done!’
“I hope we can make a fight when I get past Wallin. But Fury is a difficult guy to plan. I haven’t heard a word from him about making a fight.”
