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A full preview of Saturday’s heavyweight scrap in the United Kingdom between Dillian Whyte and Oscar Rivas.
Saturday is a stupidly loaded day for combat sports. Not only is there UFC Fight Night: RDA vs. Edwards in San Antonio, and Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman, but you have a heavyweight tilt at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom featuring contenders Dillian Whyte (25-1, 18 KOs) and Oscar Rivas (26-0, 18 KOs). Sky Box Office has the PPV for UK viewers, while North Americans can catch all the action on DAZN at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT.
Dillian Whyte
- Nine-fight win streak – Whyte’s sole defeat came against Anthony Joshua back in 2015, but Dillian did have Joshua hurt early in the contest with a left hook before Joshua pulled away and knocked him unconscious. Since then, Whyte has notably beaten former WBO champion Joseph Parker, Dereck Chisora (twice), Robert Helenius, and whatever is left of Lucas Browne.
- Title shot on the horizon? – Despite the lengthy winning streak, Whyte has never received a world title shot in his career. A rematch with Joshua was memorably bypassed for AJ after Whyte turned down the offer. Joshua instead was slated to face Jarrell Miller, and that turned into Andy Ruiz Jr, which led to an iconic upset. Whyte has banged down the doors for a shot at Deontay Wilder, and evidently beating Rivas would make him the WBC interim champion. His goal would surely be to face Wilder in 2020, but I think Tyson Fury may get in the way of those aspirations. Ordinarily, Whyte would’ve been in a title fight by now, but with all four belts tied up by two fighters, he’s basically been boxed out of the paint.
- Controversy – There’s a bit more to that winning streak than meets the eye. The first Chisora fight was very close and could’ve gone either way. Whyte was behind on two cards before his 11th-round KO in the rematch. He benefited from a headbutt “knockdown” against Joseph Parker and was agonizingly close to being knocked in the final round of a rough-and-tumble affair. Whyte has been winning but he’s not been some beacon of dominance.
- Other combat sports experience – This has absolute jack shit to do with the fight this weekend, but Whyte is a former professional kickboxer and he has one pro MMA bout – a 12-second KO of Mark Stroud.
Oscar Rivas
- Former Olympian – The 32-year-old Colombian who lives and trains out of Canada competed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, notably eliminating current top contender Kubrat Pulev before he was himself ousted from the super-heavyweight bracket by eventual gold-medalist Roberto Cammarelle. If that name sounds familiar, Cammarelle was controversially beaten in the 2012 gold medal match against none other than Anthony Joshua.
- Fabio Maldonado – Oh, you thought Whyte was the only one with MMA ties? Well Rivas technically does. No, he doesn’t have any MMA experience, but in December 2018 he did hand former UFC fighter Fabio Maldonado his first pro boxing loss, scoring a knockdown and winning a ten-round decision. That set the stage for a main event spot for Rivas the following month.
- A dramatic 12th-round knockout – Rivas took on veteran former world title challenger Bryant Jennings in a Top Rank on ESPN+ main event in upstate New York. It was hardly a thrilling affair, and trainer Marc Ramsay essentially put the verbal boot up his ass to go for broke in the final round. Rivas obliged, turned up the heat, and unleashed an offensive assault that resulted in an upset win. It turns out that Rivas was up on two scorecards, but Ramsay obviously wasn’t interested in leaving it in the hands of the judges. To date, it’s Rivas’ best win to date.
- …But a lack of 12-round experience – The Jennings win is Rivas’ only 12-rounder in his career and certainly not one that produced a lot of fireworks. Whyte has had seven fights scheduled for 12 rounds, and Dillian’s grueling style involves body shots aplenty and a willingness to fight in close quarters.
What else is on the card?
- Dereck Chisora (30-9, 21 KOs) vs. Artur Szpilka (22-3, 15 KOs) – Chisora is coming off a win over Senad Gashi, which bounced him back from that vicious KO loss to Whyte that slammed their rivalry shut once and for all. Szpilka has won his last two, defeating Mariusz Wach and Dominick Guinn (yes, that Dominick Guinn). He challenged Deontay Wilder for the WBC title and was wiped out in nine, then was KO’d by Adam Kownacki afterward. Chisora hasn’t been in title contention for years and neither man should really be in the picture now. In theory, this has potential to be a war, but it’s not like Chisora hasn’t been involved in some absolute stinkers before.
- David Price (24-5-1 NC, 19 KOs) vs. David Allen (17-4-2, 14 KOs) – An all-David domestic dust-up to cap off this heavyweight tripleheader. Price was last seen literally getting his stomach bitten by Kash Ali. The 2012 Prospect of the Year and former Olympic bronze medalist has been betrayed by his lack of defense and woeful chin time and time again, although he did notably have Alexander Povetkin wobbled in their 2017 meeting before the Russian sparked him out. Allen is just a lovable character, but much like Price, defense and jabbing are not his thing, although “The White Rhino” has a way better chin and superior stamina. This fight is Allen’s to lose, as Price has just taken too much damage over the years.
Final Verdict
Given their respective rankings at heavyweight, there’s a lot to gain for Rivas and a lot to lose for Whyte. Rivas can’t afford a low workrate against Whyte, especially not in enemy territory. He is capable of outboxing Whyte, but he’s at a power disadvantage and I am not sure he can avoid Whyte’s power shots on a consistent basis.
Prediction: Dillian Whyte, decision.