DILLIAN WHYTE has binned the nice-guy act for Saturday’s must-win rerun with Alexander Povetkin after the Russian conned him with a fake friendship.
Before the August clash in promoter Eddie Hearn’s back garden, the 41-year-old was neighbourly all through fight week and even during rounds.
But, after being dropped twice in the fourth, the violent veteran detonated an uppercut that turned Whyte’s lights off and ended his 1000-day stay at the top of the WBC rankings.
This time round, on the war ravaged Rock of Gibraltar, Whyte has refused to share his luxury yacht with his foe and has vowed to resurrect his old ‘Dillian The Villain’ persona.
“The nastiness never left but lots of things happen and change in life, so I am always trying to adapt,” The 32-year-old said.
“I feel I am always under scrutiny, people are always saying ‘Dillian Whyte is a thug, he’s this and that’.
“So I have tried to be a bit more nice, I have tried to be a bit more polite and sportsmanlike.
“But sometimes I get pushed and think ‘f*** it, I am going to get criticised anyway, for whatever I do, so I am going to do whatever I want’.
“Povetkin thinks he is smart, he likes to play this friendly game where he touches gloves before the fight and before every round but he has a nasty streak.
“It wasn’t an issue in the fight but it is very hard to be nasty to someone who is being polite to you.
“But this time I don’t care, this time I don’t give a f***. If he wants to be friendly, I don’t care, I will punch him in his throat.”
Despite some spectacular swearing, Whyte has seemed ice cool all week building up to a night that could resurrect or end his career as a world title contender.
To ease away the time aboard the Sunborn floating hotel the self-confessed gaming nerd has been playing his favourite fantasy battles.
But his fighting avatar is as old-school as it gets with an early-1900’s icon always his go-to character.
“I am a very relaxed guy,” he said. “I just like chilling, hanging out and playing Xbox with the boys.
“We play Fight Night, Mortal Kombat, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I am a gamer so I play all sorts of games. I do have a gaming chair at home in England but I don’t have it here.
“When I play Fight Night I am always Jack Johnson, every time, I am very good with Jack Johnson. He was a legendary heavyweight so he’s my guy.”
Hearn claimed this week that Whyte lost his mean streak for the shock loss thanks to the life-changing money he has been banking since his wild 2015 loss to Anthony Joshua made him a PPV star.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who tragically died this month, always said it was hard to get up and run at 5am after a night in silk pyjamas but Whyte insists he is still sleeping rough and ready.
“I don’t live nice,” he barked. “People who know me will tell you. I don’t party or have an entourage.
“I could be living in a much bigger place but I keep my life humble. I am not needy.
“I don’t show up with Louis Vuitton or things like that, I have never been that guy. Everybody likes nice things and it is good when you work to get them but I am not a primadonna .
“It’s Eddie Hearn who lives a comfortable life and he assumes I am too.
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“He even asks me why I am not driving around in a Rolls Royce, with all the money I have earned, but that is not me.
“I am really just a caveman warrior.”
Watch Povetkin vs Whyte 2 on Saturday March 27, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
