Dillian Whyte on Deontay Wilder: "I'm sure British people and American fans would love to see me knock him out." The British heavyweight is training for a rescheduled rematch with Alexander Povetkin.
Thursday 19 November 2020 06:14, UK
Dillian Whyte says Deontay Wilder must "dance to my tune" after finally being called out by his American rival following a three-year wait for a WBC title fight.
The British heavyweight was repeatedly frustrated in his attempts to secure a fight during Wilder's reign as WBC champion, which was ended by a stoppage loss to Tyson Fury in February.
Wilder, who is locked in a dispute over a third fight with Fury, has this week voiced his desire to fight Whyte, a challenge that received a scathing response from the Brixton man.
Whyte told Sky Sports: "Tyson Fury is not fighting him, so who else can he make any money from? Deontay Wilder is not a big draw at all.
"Even when he was heavyweight champion, he could not sell out venues, and I think he's only ever had a couple of fights on pay-per-view. All he does is run around and talk s***.
"If he fights with Parker, there's nothing in it. If he fights Helenius, nothing. If he fights me, it's the only way he's going to make any form of decent money.
"He's a coward. Now he's got nothing at all to lose, basically. He ignored his duties as the WBC world heavyweight champion. It's shocking he was allowed to do it as well. Absolutely shocking."
Whyte is preparing for a rescheduled rematch against Alexander Povetkin, who withdrew from a scheduled bout this weekend after testing positive for coronavirus.
He remains eager to settle his bitter feud with Wilder, but admits his top priority is securing a world title fight in 2021.
"Yeah of course it can happen next year, but I beat Povetkin and I'll be chasing a world title," said Whyte.
"When I was the challenger, I went through hell trying to get him [Wilder] to man up to fight me, and he wouldn't fight me, so I'm going to chase the world title.
"It's a good fight, a fight that I'm interested in, but he needs to dance to my tune. I want to beat the guy up, to be honest with you. Personally, I don't like him. I think he's a bad ambassador for the sport.
"I'm sure the British people and the American fans would love to see me knock him out. It's going to be war. I'm just there to knock him out.
"Like I've said for years, the best way to beat Deontay Wilder is to be aggressive and take the fight to him and now Tyson Fury's done it. But I've been saying it for years and that's why he didn't want to fight me."
Watch Conor Benn vs Sebastian Formella on Saturday, from 7pm on Sky Sports.
