Dillian Whyte must win fight with Alexander Povetkin, looking 'more spiteful' says Eddie Hearn

Povetkin and Whyte will face one another in Gibraltar on Saturday night to contest the 41-year-old Russian’s WBC interim championship. Povetkin sprung a surprise in August last year at the Fight Camp finale, knocking out Whyte with a shock uppercut.

Whyte had been waiting three years for a shot at the title but saw the chance slip through his fingers, and immediately exercised a rematch clause. A November date and then January fight were missed due to Povetkin’s coronavirus infection and then the wider pandemic briefly putting paid to British boxing.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Hearn described Saturday’s fight as:  "Must-win, because Dillian Whyte's aim is to win a world heavyweight championship.

"Dillian Whyte's aim and our aim is to get him in the position to fight for the world heavyweight championship. Without that, I don't think he has any interest, career-wise. That is the ultimate strategy, aim, focus.

"If he loses against Povetkin, that is out - and it's not just out for six months or a year. That could be out forever."

The 32-year-old Briton has described the fight as the biggest in his career, and Whyte has brought in trainer Harold Knight in order to prepare for the fight. Hearn has detected a change.

"There's a difference with Dillian Whyte in this camp," he said.

"He's gone back to his old ways. He's more spiteful. He's more short and sharp. He wants to do a job on Povetkin.

"But Povetkin comes into the fight surely with so much confidence. I know he went down twice in the fight, but he did take Whyte clean off his feet and knock him out. He'll be looking to do that again.

"I think it's going to be a firefight. I think Whyte is going to go out there and try and impose himself on the fight and I think he's going to try and knock out Povetkin in style.

"I think Povetkin will be thinking, 'one shot, once again it's over'. It's going to be a tremendous fight."