Dillian Whyte Battled Itauma on Broken Foot, Now Pursues Johnny Fisher Bout

Dillian Whyte offered a graphic account of the agonising injury he sustained just weeks before his bout against Moses Itauma. “It felt like someone had dropped a dumbbell on my foot,” Whyte said, describing the fractured foot he suffered in training last summer. He explained, “I was running and felt something. Then I went to spar against big, agile guys, and when someone pressed me, I stepped back the wrong way and it fractured clean.” He added, “It was terrible, but we’re used to pulling off miracles. We’re used to fighting injured. I made the best of the situation and had a decent camp. I felt good during fight week and really thought I would beat Moses.”

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Whyte has a history of competing with debilitating injuries. He famously faced Anthony Joshua with a badly damaged shoulder, and other wounds have been overcome during a heavyweight career that earned him two-time WBC interim world champion status.

However, the Brixton fighter could not overcome the effects of his injured foot. The bone fractured again while he was limbering up in the dressing room, hours before he was due to face Itauma in Saudi Arabia last August. “I started warming up, jumped a little bit of rope, and then reinjured the foot. Completely fractured it again,” Whyte said. “We had to call the doctor who was with me to examine it. He advised me not to fight and I said ‘no’. There’s no way I’m going to come all the way to Saudi and not fight last minute. I was confident that I would still be able to drag Moses into the later rounds and stop him as Filip Hrgovic recently did.”

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Whyte attempted to conceal his damaged foot, which had been heavily strapped, but his lack of mobility was exposed by Itauma, who landed a succession of punches before the bout was stopped in the opening round. While Itauma celebrated his victory, Whyte remained silent about his significant injury and has been absent from the ring since. “I didn’t want to mention it and take away from his win, because he done alright. I got clocked and he won the fight. I didn’t want to go on too much about it, and I think people got carried away with the fact that I got beat in a round by Moses. I don’t think people would draw the same conclusions if they had the full facts. People have short memories and they like to say ‘retire because of this, retire because of that’, but what they don’t realise is we’re members of a rare generation of entertaining British heavyweight boxers that are coming to the end of our careers.” He concluded, “I love boxing and I’ll fight anyone. Be grateful that you have guys like me around because when we’re gone, there will be a long drought in the heavyweight division.”

Johnny Fisher called for Whyte’s return last week, insisting there is a “good chance” the fight could happen soon. Whyte accepted the verbal challenge and watched from ringside as Fisher secured a majority decision victory over Michael Pirotton at the Copper Box Arena last weekend. “Credit to Johnny Fisher, because he’s a big lump, he hasn’t had time to learn a lot, but he’s got a lot of courage, he’s got a lot of heart, he’s a big puncher and he’s brave,” said Whyte, who is open to facing Fisher in November or December this year. “He’s a bit frantic and that, but he’s very brave and he’s a big guy who punches hard. When the fight gets tough, he keeps trying and he keeps coming back. You can never overlook that but let’s be honest, I will knock Johnny Fisher out, simple as that.”

Whyte was joined by manager Michael Ofo, who says the fight has already been verbally accepted by Fisher’s team and is hopeful it can be finalised. “The fight was agreed in principle following Fisher’s win on Saturday night with a handshake between me and Fisher’s manager Adam Morallee,” said Ofo. “I was unsure whether Fisher and his management would take the fight, in spite of Fisher having called Dillian out, so I called Adam over and asked him. He immediately responded: ‘Absolutely. Let’s do it next!’ It would be a huge all-British clash and a massive event for London. So, let’s stop talking and get it on!”

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