If Dillian Whyte (27-1, 18 KO) defeats Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KO) this coming Saturday, he may face Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO) in his next fight. And on this occasion, the theme of their sparring seven years ago is returning like a boomerang.
“I sent him to the floor twice. He was crying and the coach cursed him," Whyte shared his memories a few weeks ago. Dillian assisted Tyson in 2013 before his potential fight with David Haye.
“At that time his uncle Peter Fury was his coach. He made him go at me and attack, as if he was going to do it against Haye. But he worked all the time on counterattacks, until I finally knocked him down. And then one more time. Tyson was very upset. At some point, he broke down and began to cry. Then Uncle Peter told him,“ If you’re going to fight like this, Haye will knock you out. Get up and get to work." Fury was very upset that day."
In early August, Dillian confirmed that he had replaced coach Mark Tibbs with Xavier Miller ahead of his biggest fight of his career. What really happened in 2013 in the gym?
“I don't like to talk on what happens during training, but it was Fury who began to talk about how he beat me in training. In truth, I was the one who sent him to the floor. Fury is big, he has a wide reach, and can be awkward in the ring. But I knocked him down,” Whyte said, who sparred Tyson in 2012 (preparing for Martin Rogan) and 2013 (preparing for David Haye).
“The sparring went well. Whyte can compete with anyone, especially since he has grown since then. He was much less experienced than Tyson, but he gave it his best,” Peter Fury, Tyson's uncle and his former coach, commented on joint training.
“Fury went to spar without a helmet. He thought could knock this guy down, but he didn't. Tyson was not in his best shape, but it was obvious that he was better. It was great to be able to see it and still get paid for it. Although I have not seen all the sparring sessions,” Eddie Chambers, who also witnessed those events, added.
“At that time, neither Fury dominated over Whyte, nor Whyte over Fury. It was not a particularly sharp sparring, but I also did not witness all the sparring,” Steve Cunningham added.
“Tyson is a well-trained boxer. Other boxers, especially in the past, have tried their best to catch him. But it is very difficult to hit him with a clean punch. However, the truth is that, out of a hundred rounds, someone will succeed in the end. It was good sparring and an interesting competition. When I was Tyson's coach, I didn't want him to go into exchanges. Sparring was not so important for us, and we cannot draw any conclusions based on them. We always had three sparring partners ready to enter the ring,” added the reigning WBC champion's uncle.
“I saw rounds in which Whyte really punched, pressed, but there was no question of a knockdown. However, there were also sparrings in which he could not touch Tyson at all," Chambers admitted.
“I've been at these sparrings for the last four weeks. Perhaps something happened earlier, but Whyte has never been able to hurt Fury that month,” Cunningham said.
