Dillian Whyte's five-fight form guide ahead of Otto Wallin bout
An in-depth look at Dillian Whyte's last five fights as he bids to see off Otto Wallin and get a heavyweight world title shot at Tyson Fury.
Whyte is currently the No.1 in the WBC rankings, but his mission against the younger Wallin, who took Fury the distance in 2019, is not straightforward.
The pair will meet at the O2 in London on October 30 with WBC heavyweight champion Fury most likely to fight the victor.
Fury has been ordered by the WBC to fight the winner of that meeting straight away if a unification bout cannot be arranged. And with Anthony Joshua activating his rematch clause with IBF, WBA, WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk, a mandatory defence is likely to be Fury's next fight.
vs Alexander Povetkin, March 2021
Whyte produced his most destructive performance to date with a fourth-round stoppage of Alexander Povetkin in Gibraltar.
Povetkin, who had previously only lost to Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko in 39 bouts, went down. But despite getting to his feet the referee waved the fight off.
It was an impressive showing by Whyte, but how much had Covid-19 taken out of Povetkin after the rematch had twice been postponed?
vs Alexander Povetkin, August 2020
Povetkin inflicted defeat on Whyte - only the second of his career - with a heavy knockdown in round five in front of an empty arena in Brentwood.
Whyte had won every round and was clearly the more skilled of the pair, but Povetkin found a punch of a lifetime to derail Whyte's world title hopes.
vs Mariusz Wach, December 2019
But afterwards the Brit made it clear boxing had not been at the forefront of his mind.
Whyte admitted he was "in a dark place a few months ago" and came into the bout "about a stone and a half overweight".
Despite beating his durable opponent, Whyte told Sky Sports: "I boxed nowhere near my standard."
vs Oscar Rivas, July 2019
Whyte's early power had kept Rivas at arms length, but he managed to put Whyte on the floor in the ninth, for only the third time in his career.