Boxing legend Ricky Hatton has revealed his belief that Dillian Whyte’s only hope of beating Tyson Fury is by knocking him out.
Fury will be defending his WBC heavyweight title against contender Dillian Whyte on April 23rd at Wembley Stadium. It’s a much-anticipated clash between two of the biggest names in the country, but for the vast majority of boxing fans, there’s only one winner that they anticipate – and that’s the Gypsy King.
While Whyte has earned his stripes in the heavyweight division and will be no pushover, there is an obvious gap in quality between the two compatriots. Fury is world-class, one of the greatest ever to do it, while Whyte was knocked out by a 40-year-old in Eddie Hearn’s garden, all due respect to him.
Still, when two fighters go toe-to-toe in the ring, especially when they carry weight like these two, anything is possible. Deontay Wilder has barely half the boxing skillset that Fury does, yet he still had him on the canvas on multiple occasions throughout their thrilling trilogy in the United States.
Fury is fantastic, but he’s not invincible. If Whyte lands the right shot or combination of shots, he could cause one of the biggest upsets in British boxing history in front of an enormous Wembley audience. Ricky Hatton, who had 32 KO wins of his own during his professional career, has urged Whyte to go for blood.
Hatton is quoted by talkSPORT revealing his belief that Whyte has no choice but to go for the knockout as it’s his only plausible way of being victorious on April 23rd, “I think he has to go for the knockout. Let’s have it right, he’s not going to outbox Tyson Fury, he’s not going to outspeed Tyson Fury.”
“Tyson, for a giant, 6ft 10in, is so versatile. He showed in his last fight [against Deontay Wilder] and previous fights, that he can stand close and mix it up. He can box southpaw, he can box orthodox, he can box from a distance, he’s great defensively.”
“So, there’s no point in Dillian going out there thinking he can outbox Tyson because he can’t. He’s got to go for the knockout and try and get that big one in. Tyson’s been on his backside a few times. Dillian will know he’s capable of landing that and beating Tyson.”
Fury will be quite happy to box Whyte at range and keep him behind the jab. Whyte may well need to get inside and make it a dog fight if he wants to have any chance of becoming the new WBC heavyweight champion of the world.
As he has proven previously, Whyte can do some serious damage with those left hooks, with his right-hand punch power also as good as any other top heavyweight in the division, excluding Deontay Wilder, of course.
Fury has proven that he CAN produce punch-perfect displays, but if he doesn’t at Wembley, Whyte needs to be ready to capitalise and take the opportunities presented to him. If he doesn’t, he might never get a world title shot again – it’s now or never.
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