Dillian Whyte and Tyson Fury will fight at Wembley Stadium on Saturday for the WBC heavyweight championship; Sky customers will be able to buy the BT Box Office fight through Sky
Saturday 23 April 2022 08:01, UK
Dillian Whyte may have been waiting more than 1,000 days for his mandatory world title shot, but head coach Xavier Miller insists the timing could not be better as his man prepares to face Tyson Fury for the WBC heavyweight championship at Wembley this Saturday.
As fight night edges closer the story of Whyte's media silence has been superseded by the narrative that both men enter following the best training camps of their respective careers.
For Whyte's trainer Miller, that means a culmination of years of technical refinement behind the scenes and vast ring experience in preparation for this very occasion.
"I think it's a case of locking ourselves away for the past couple of years in Portugal, I think it's being involved in three or four different training camps, I think it's speaking to Dillian earlier on when I got appointed as head coach and saying 'we need to improve on certain aspects of your game'," Miller told Sky Sports.
"He's a tremendous fighter, a tremendous fighter.
"His ceiling is a lot higher than where it is right now and that's why I've been working so hard.
"I'm ultra confident, ultra confident."
Whyte recently cited his limited amateur experience as he explained to Sky Sports on a media call the extent of his almost 'learn on the job' development and growth as a boxer in recent years, which he says continues with every fight.
His seventh-round stoppage defeat to Anthony Joshua in 2015 had not only introduced the world to his toughness but would prove something of a catalyst for his emergence as one of the most dangerous threats on the heavyweight circuit.
Since then he has claimed standout victories over the likes of Derek Chisora, Robert Helenius, Lucas Brown and Joseph Parker, before stopping Alexander Povetkin in the fourth round of last year's rematch to finally pave his way to a title opportunity.
"I think some of it is we've just had to go back to basics," Miller continued. "I think because I spent so long building fighters from scratch, there's a format and that takes time.
"No matter how anybody wants to spin it, you don't just get a fighter in who hasn't fought for world titles yet and change things immediately.
"There are things that had to be worked on, we've taken our time and done that.
"Honestly the fight couldn't come at a better time, it's now."
Rarely, if at all, has Fury played down the threat posed by Whyte ahead of Saturday's showdown, acknowledging the likelihood of his opponent 'taking his head off' should he bring anything less than his best.
Fury hit the canvas on multiple occasions across his trilogy against Deontay Wilder, whose only fault was the inability to finish off the Gypsy King. Easier said than done.
"You don't have to be a boxing coach to see (how Whyte can hurt Fury)," Miller explained.
"If Dillian catches you clean you're dropped. The problem is you've got to keep Tyson Fury there.
"You give credit where it's due, when he has gone down he's got up. He's got a lot of heart, he wants to fight, but our job is once we've got him down to keep him down, that's our job."
Miller himself, who has been working with Whyte since his win over Óscar Rivas in July 2019, admits he has been asked regularly of how much Saturday will mean to him.
The answer, for a trainer that has been instrumental in guiding amateur fighters to the pro ranks and travelled to America to expand his knowledge and spent time in multiple corners to hone his expertise, is a lot. For Whyte's camp, they feel it is their moment, their man's moment.
"I just love boxing. I've been in boxing since I was about 11/12 years old, I watch boxing every single day, I've been involved with training fighters for years and this is excitement for me," he said.
"The only time I get nervous is when it's time to get called and we started walking our way to the ring.
"This is what I've lived for, this is what I've been waiting for, this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
"We're going to do a job."
If you wish to purchase Tyson Fury v Dillian Whyte on BT Sport Box Office on 23rd April 2022, please visit www.sky.com/boxoffice/btsport .
