Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte 30-3 (20) returned to the ring for the first time in 16 months with a third-round stoppage of journeyman Christian Hammer 27-11 (17) at the TF Royal Hotel in Castlebar, Ireland on Sunday.
The 35-year-old Brit saw his career stall when he failed a drugs test in the lead up to his scheduled bout against former two-time unified champion Anthony Joshua 28-3 (25) in August 2023.
He was recently cleared to fight after it was determined his positive test was the result of ingesting a contaminated supplement.
The Romanian-born, German-based Hammer, 36, was never expected to win the fight, but Whyte was hopeful he could get some rounds in.
It didn’t turn out that way after Hammer retired on his stool at the end of the third round after suffering a suspected shoulder injury.
Whyte wasn’t buying the injury excuse after landing a series of debilitating body shots in the third round.
“He was negative all through,” Whyte said after the fight. “As soon as I hit him he was negative. I told him afterwards he was a coward and I mean that.
“I’m so frustrated. I’ve put so much work into preparing for this fight and to have him quit after just three rounds is so frustrating. I told him afterwards in the ring that I always respected him but tonight he was a coward.”
Whyte’s American trainer Buddy McGirt said it was a quit job from Hammer too.
“In the opening two rounds his head was everywhere except where it should be, but at the end of the third round Dillian was beginning to do some of the things we had worked on and then the guy quit,” McGirt said.
“I firmly believe it was just a matter of time before he got the guy out of there.
“I think he should fight again before the end of May. He’s got to keep busy and I personally believe the better the opposition the better Dillian will be. It doesn’t matter what name he comes up against, he will get back to the top level again.”
In his previous bout before the Hammer fight, Whyte scored a 12-round majority decision win over Jermaine Franklin Jr 22-2 (14) at Wembley Arena in London in November 2022.
That fight came seven months after his lone world title shot, a seventh-round knockout loss to WBC champion Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) at London’s Wembley Stadium in April 2022. In that bout Whyte was cut over the right eye in the fourth round and down from a right uppercut prior to the stoppage.
“I’d love to have one more crack at a world title. That’s the goal,” Whyte told Sky Sports before the Hammer bout.
“I’ve done almost everything there is to do in boxing. I’ve been on the good and the bad. I just need to win a world title and then that will be the icing on the cake.”