Getty Most experts are backing Tyson Fury to beat Dillian Whyte at Wembley.
Dillian Whyte has more than a few backers ahead of his world title scrap against WBC Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury at London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Whyte has revived his career in the wake of two high-profile defeats, getting knocked out by Anthony Joshua, and Alexander Povetkin.
Now, Whyte has some people believing he can dethrone Fury, who took the title from Deontay Wilder in some style back in 2020. The 33-year-old is seemingly at the peak of his powers, but Fury has talked during the build-up to this fight about the possibility of hanging up the gloves sooner rather than later.
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
In the United States, the main PPV card (2 p.m. ET start time), which is headlined by Fury vs Whyte, can be purchased through ESPN+ right here:
Note that you need to be a subscriber to ESPN+ ($6.99 per month or $13.99 per month for ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ bundle) to purchase the PPV ($69.99). If you’re not already a subscriber, you can get both ESPN+ and the PPV in one swoop via the above link.
Once you’ve purchased the PPV, you can watch Fury vs Whyte live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
For all of those options, you’ll need to sign in with your ESPN+ account to watch the prelims (1 p.m. ET, ESPN+) and the main card (2 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV).
Fury a Unanimous Favorite Outside the UK
Whyte has plenty of support close to home, with David Haye backing the 34-year-old to “pull off the upset.” Haye, who held the unified cruiserweight title and WBA heavyweight crown during his career, told TalkSport.com’s Alex McCarthy Whyte “can punch hard, he’s got cardio for days he’s got the desire and belief in himself.”
In addition to Haye, Derek Chisora, who lost to both Fury and Whyte during his career, told TalkSport: “I’m willing to put my house on Dillian Whyte knocking Tyson Fury out.”
Finally, McCarthy also relayed comments from Matchroom Chairman and internet meme sensation Eddie Hearn offering his backing to Chisora. Hearn explained how Whyte can turn the fight his way: “He has the equaliser as he’s a tremendous body puncher, a left hook that can turn your lights out as well.”
Whyte may have support on home soil, but the view away from English shores is very different. In particular, experts at The Ring Magazine and other boxing insiders were unanimous in their predictions for a Fury win, per Ring‘s Anson Wainwright.
All 20 who were consulted backed ‘The Gypsy King’ to emerge victorious, with ex-WBA welterweight title holder Paulie Malignaggi explaining why Fury’s style will make the difference: “Fury is big but with a smaller man’s agility and speed. Even on the occasion that Whyte gets on the inside of Fury will negate a lot of the physical work and I can see Fury just pushing down on the head of Whyte on those occasions.”
Meanwhile, Ring writer Lee Groves thinks “Whyte’s bad history with uppercuts” will leave him vulnerable to that punch against as skilled a striker as Fury. It’s a thought echoed by former light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who told Fight Hub TV he expects Fury to land a telling “right hand or uppercut.”
It’s a smart prediction because Whyte was felled by an uppercut from Johsua seven years ago. History repeated itself when Povetkin caught Whyte with a thunderous version of the punch five years later.
Povetkin’s clean shot, along with its impact upon Whyte, was highlighted by The Telegraph’s Gareth A Davies:
Drama. Huge left uppercut up the middle and Alexander Povetkin knocks out Dillian Whyte 30 seconds into round five. Out. Cold.
There are only 80 of us here but there was a stunned silence.
The punch he did not see coming…
Few fighters are as adept at picking their shots as Fury. If he can manoeuvre Whyte into something similar, it should be enough to end the fight.
Motivation will be key for the champion, who has spoken about retirement more than once in the months leading up to the fight. Fury recently said he’s “coming up to 34, 20 years as a boxer, that’s enough for anybody,” per George Sessions of The Independent.
If even part of Fury’s mind is on what the future holds, it could give Whyte an unlikely edge.
The other X-factor is Whyte’s own ability to land a haymaker. It’s something Fury has to guard against when facing a fighter with 19 knockouts on his record.
Whyte will be looking for that one decisive opening that will change the course of this bout in an instant. It won’t be easy to break down the defences of a fighter as cagey as Fury, so ‘The Body Snatcher’ is likely to leave Wembley a frustrated figure.