Dillian Whyte v Alexander Povetkin Preview: Who will win the WBC interim heavyweight title?
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We preview Saturday’s Fight Club action
The return of boxing has been on the lips of many for quite some time, and heavyweight boxing finally returns this weekend with Dillian Whyte v Alexander Povetkin.
The bout had originally been scheduled to take place at the Manchester Arena in May but has since been rescheduled to take place at the Matchroom Boxing headquarters in Brentwood on Saturday.
There’s a lot more than just the WBC ‘interim’ heavyweight belt on the line in this bout too, with Whyte looking to impress as the mandatory WBC challenger to the eventual winner of Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder.
Saturday’s undercard will see Ireland’s Katie Taylor defend her unbeaten record and WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO lightweight belts, as well as two other fights too.
Ahead of the ringside action, we’ve taken a look at Saturday’s schedule…
Dillian Whyte has been making waves in the boxing world recently, and heads into this battle as the odds-on 2/7 favourite. Alexander Povetkin may well be used to the underdog title by now, and he’ll wear it again as he’s 11/4 to win.
Through his current 28 fight professional career, Whyte has only tasted defeat once. That came back in 2015 at the O2 Arena, where Anthony Joshua left the Body Snatcher on the canvas.
Since then, Whyte has gone on to win 11 fights on the bounce, including a pair of hard-fought victories over Dereck Chisora, as well as a unanimous decision through 12 rounds against Joseph Parker.
His defence of the WBC interim heavyweight title won’t come easy though, with heavily experienced professional Povetkin standing in his way.
They share one thing in common, they’ve both lost to Anthony Joshua, but Povetkin’s defeat came only two years ago. Since then, he went on to beat Hughie Fury, before drawing with American Michael Hunter in Saudi Arabia.
Whyte has the benefit of being eight years Povetkin’s junior. As well as that, he’s two inches taller than his Russian counterpart, with a reach three inches greater too.
He’s won three of his last four bouts by way of Unanimous Decision, and we’ve got 7/5 on the Body Snatcher to win by Decision or Technical Decision again.
Patience could be the name of the game for Whyte if he can’t get Povetkin down on the canvas early. With the Russian almost 41-years-old, stamina could be an issue. We’ve got 7/1 on Whyte winning in Rounds 10-12, with a points decision in Whyte’s favour at 7/5.
Katie Taylor faces Belgium’s Delfine Persoon for a second time as she defends an unbeaten record and her WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO lightweight belts.
In the first bout, Taylor won through a Majority Decision at Madison Square Garden back in June 2019, and with another Unanimous Decision victory over Christina Linardatou since, we’ve got the Bray Bomber coming in as the odds-on 1/3 favourite.
Persoon has got her record back on track too since her second career defeat, with a Unanimous Decision win over Helen Joseph in Belgium sealing the WBA interim super-featherweight title in November. She’s the 11/4 underdog here.
After their first bout went the full distance, we’ve got a Taylor win on points available at 4/7, with a Persoon points verdict at 9/2.
Best of the rest
At 27-years-old, Chris Kongo has had to wait a little while for his first title fight. But after joining Dillian Whyte’s management camp this year, he’s finally got his chance.
He’s the 2/3 favourite to beat Luther Clay for the WBO Global welterweight title, with Clay the 5/4 underdog. We’ve priced up the draw at 18/1.
Jack Cullen heads to the ring to take on Zak Chelli too, with Cullen the 8/13 favourite to secure his 19th career win.
Chelli has won seven of eight career fights, losing to Kody Davies by Unanimous Decision in his last bout. He’s 5/4 to win and get back on track, with the draw at 18/1.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.
