"Everyone was quick to throw me in a hole with no evidence and no facts"
Monday 9 December 2019 06:13, UK
Dillian Whyte proclaimed "I've always been innocent" after re-entering the heavyweight mix and putting the troubles of the past five months behind him.
Whyte was cleared by UK Anti-Doping on Friday amid claims of an "adverse finding" surrounding his points win over Oscar Rivas in July, and 24 hours later he slugged out a unanimous decision victory over Mariusz Wach.
He told Sky Sports News about being cleared by UKAD: "As a nation we are quick to write each other and drag each other's names through the mud. We are sitting, hoping and waiting for something negative to bring someone down.
"Everyone was quick to throw me in a hole with no evidence and no facts.
"The facts are that I'm clean, I've always been clean and I've always been innocent.
"People who had nothing to gain were saying stuff just for the sake of it. Everyone has an opinion. Now I can say things, I will let people know I feel - everyone who belittled me and discredited my name. I will be really rude to those people."
Whyte was made aware of the allegations in the days prior to his July victory over the previously unbeaten Rivas.
"It's mad, I went from having a great camp and being motivated to just being flat.
"My last two fights have been hell - I won them, but they were hell.
"The Rivas fight? I didn't sleep for 48 hours before. I couldn't sleep because I knew what was going on. I'd sold tickets and wondered if the show would go on.
"Pure madness, pure madness. It was crazy.
"It blew my mind, big time. I don't know who I fought and beat. It shows how tough I am, brave I am and good I am. I had the ability to put things to the back of my mind and get the job done. I wasn't 100 per cent focused but I still got it done."
Whyte became mandatory challenger to Deontay Wilder's WBC title by beating Rivas, but that status was suspended after the allegations made about him. The WBC have since said that, if his situation was rectified, he could regain mandatory status in February 2021.
He said about the past five months: "I'm a tough person, a strong person. My team kept me motivated and said: 'let's get through this'.
"'You're innocent, we'll fight this'."
Whyte's only loss remains to Anthony Joshua four years ago and he now plans to return to mixing it with the division's elite.
He insists that he never received due credit for outpointing Rivas: "Joshua didn't want to fight him, Tyson Fury didn't want to fight him, Wilder didn't want to fight.
"When Jarrell Miller pulled out [of fighting Joshua], Rivas put his name in the hat and was way more credible than Andy Ruiz Jr at the time. Fury, the same thing, he said 'no I won't fight him'. Wilder, the same thing."
