By: Hans Themistode
Dillian Whyte promised things would be different this time around. After controlling much of their first contest, Whyte quickly found himself staring up at the ceiling lights in his August 22nd, contest against Alexander Povetkin.
Refusing to accept defeat, Whyte invoked his immediate rematch clause. While many believed he would suffer the same fate, Whyte assured everyone that he would knock Povetkin into next week.
Mission accomplished.
Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) came out of the gate cautious but aggressive. He found his range with the jab and attacked the body of his man. Povetkin, on the other hand, looked lethargic and gun shy. The former Olympic Gold medalist plodded forward and pushed forward a slow jab.
Unafraid of the Russian early on, Whyte began pummeling him. As Povetkin (36-3-1, 25 KOs) reached his corner at the end of the round, he slumped into his chair as if to indicate that a long night was ahead of him. That of course, proved to be wrong.
For the next two rounds, Whyte bullied the former WBC interim titlist. Although everything was going the way he envisioned, Whyte refused to get careless. The lasting images of Povetkin picking himself up off the deck twice in their first contest to land a game-changing left uppercut still resonated with the British product.
But while Whyte was weary early on, he turned on his aggression in the fourth. During the round, seemingly everything Whyte threw landed on the chin of Povetkin. The former contender staggered across the ring as Whyte continued the savage beating.
One final left hand sent Povetkin to the canvas and although he managed to sluggishly crawl his way to his feet, his corner had seen enough and thrown in the towel.
Immediately concerned with the safety of his opponent, Whyte signaled someone from his corner to grab a stool and handed it to Povetkin.
Once the win was officially in his back pocket, Whyte extended a helping hand to Povetkin even further, offering to give the faded contender an immediate rematch. However, with plenty of other big names currently residing at the top of the heavyweight division and with the one-sided nature of their second contest, there may not be an appetite for a third showdown.
