Dillian Whyte feels he was neck and neck with Tyson Fury for most of their fight.
Whyte, the mandatory challenger – and heavy underdog – for Fury’s WBC heavyweight title, however, ended up falling way short of bucking the odds in their scheduled, all-British 12-round title bout at Wembley Stadium in London last Saturday. Whyte succumbed to a well-timed uppercut from Manchester's Fury that put the London-based Whyte flat on his back. Whyte managed to beat the count but immediately floundered on his feet, compelling the referee to halt the proceedings in the sixth round.
Whyte, who is best in close quarters, struggled all fight long to get on the inside against the taller and rangier Fury, whose only physical toll seemingly came from the rabbit shots Whyte tried to land when they were entangled. Indeed, the fight was ugly at times, with both fighters using elbows and, at one point, clashing their heads.
Whyte, however, feels he was just on the cusp of turning the tenor of the fight in his favor when the knockout occurred. Fury whipped the right uppercut when Whyte stepped toward him with a high guard.
“Yeah you know I think there was a lot [going on] in the fight,” Whyte told BBC 5 Live Boxing. “It was a close fight, obviously. I was just getting started to come in more and more, obviously, to press him, obviously, work the body and start moving forward, but, you know.
“My coaches gave me great advice…I was countering, I was trying to attack. I went left and right and thought maybe I can slip [the punch] and come back with a shot. But one slip and I got caught with a shot.”
Whyte did not sound distressed by the definitive ending of the fight, given the caliber of opponent he was facing in Fury. Along with the Fury fight, all of Whyte’s losses have ended in knockouts via the uppercut. Anthony Joshua did so in 2015 and Alexander Povetkin in 2021.
“You got to make a decision at a high level in there, man,” Whyte said. “Quick decision. It is what it is. I didn’t feel like I was outclassed in there. He was just at another level – he’s one of the greatest fighters of all time.”
In the main, Whyte said he was not “surprised” by anything Fury presented him in the ring.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Whyte said. “He’s a big, awkward guy … We were both on the edge. It was a close fight.”
One minor note of success that Whyte (28-3, 19 KOs) pointed to in the fight was his decision to come out as a southpaw in the opening round. From most accounts, it does not seem that Whyte has ever converted to southpaw for any length of time prior to fighting Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs). Whyte, however, reverted to his orthodox stance for the rest of the fight
“I think he was surprised I came out southpaw,” Whyte said. “It was awkward for him. He landed some good shots. He’s a good fighter.”
“It was always going to be an awkward fight,” Whyte continued. “But I was just trying to set my things up, trying to be patient and land what I could earlier then later start pressing the fight as you can see from round three I started to press. I should've pressed a bit more intelligently. That’s why I said, 'experience is experience,' you can’t buy it, you know?”