Title challenge on the line for Dillian Whyte

Dillian Whyte will be the WBC’s mandatory challenger if he beats Oscar Rivas, it has been confirmed. Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury will not have welcomed the WBC ruling that the winner of their 2020 rematch must fight Whyte, assuming the Brixton boxer takes care of Rivas in London this weekend, according to promote Eddie Hearn.

Whyte will secure the WBC ‘interim’ belt and thereby his title shot if he wins on Saturday night. “I don’t think they’re very happy and they’ll try everything they can to try and get out of it, but now we have it solid,” Hearn told Sky Sports after the WBC ruling was confirmed.

“He’s wanted Wilder for a long, long time. Fury called him out recently and we have publicly accepted that challenge and he’s changed his mind, so I don’t think anyone wants to fight Dillian Whyte. That’s why we’ve had to force the mandatory position.

“It’s going to be interesting, but that’s again why we had to get this position, because no one is going to choose Dillian Whyte to fight.” Whyte has been ranked number one contender with the WBC – behind champion Deontay Wilder – for around two years without getting a title shot and voiced his frustration earlier this week.

He has been praised in the past for taking on tough fights and Whyte wants to see his heavyweight contemporaries adopt a similar approach. “How can you be number one and the champion not fight you? It could be such a good era,” Whyte said.

“We can all fight one another three or four times. But these guys worry about losing, so it’s a bit silly. We are all getting on, time waits for no man. I don’t want to fight these guys at 35 or 36. We should fight now.” Whyte is 1.20 favourite to defeat Rivas, who is 4.75, while the draw is 26.00.