Dillian Whyte's fighting evolution - from knives and guns to gloves
Dillian Whyte sees a fight against Joseph Parker as opening the door to a crack at the big time.
The first time Dillian Whyte was stabbed he saw it as a badge of honour. That happened at the age of 13. It happened at 15 and 16 too. He was shot as well.
Whyte, now 30 and one of the hottest fighters in the heavyweight division, is a classic tale of how boxing turned around someone's life.
He makes Anthony Joshua look something of an angel in terms of his upbringing. And he'll be looking to go one better than Joshua and knock out New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker when they meet in Whyte's backyard at London's O2 Arena on July 29 (NZT).
Dillian Whyte says anger only got him so far in boxing and believes he's a much better technical fighter now.
Coming to Britain from his native Jamaica at the age of 12, Whyte gew up tough in the south London neighbourhood of Brixton.
Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker clash in London in late July.
He mixed with the wrong crowd and trouble inevitably came looking for him as much as he looked for it himself.
His family weren't happy when he chose a violent sport to try to end his violent lifestyle. But a pair of boxing gloves were seen as better than a steel blade or barrel.
"My mum hates the fact that I fight," Whyte told British media as he outlined the back-story to a fighting career that has him poised for a world title shot if he can get past Parker.
Dillian Whyte destroyed Australian Lucas Browne in his last fight at London's O2 Arena in March.
"My sisters hate it too but they understand that boxing gave me a way out. It saved me, it made me someone, it made me the person I am today, mentally and physically.
"I was one of those kids who was not meant to be anything at school, I was either meant to be dead or in prison at this age, to be honest.
"I came here from Jamaica as a kid and didn't go to school really, never had a great education. I was a little bit bad on the street, running around, doing this, doing that and always getting into trouble. I was completely written off so boxing has definitely saved my life.
"I've been stabbed, I've been shot. I wasn't the best kid. I was running around being crazy and excited, and I thought it was cool at the time.
"I thought 'I've been stabbed, I'll show my mates'. I'd lift my top up and say 'look I got done here at the weekend'. But you never realise the risk you were taking in those days."
The people charged with trying to turn Whyte's life around thought the best method would be to get him involved in something that might interest him.
"I got stabbed when I was 13, 16 and 15," he said. "That's actually how I got into fighting. I got into trouble and my youth worker took me to the gym because he saw me always fighting and getting into trouble. Once I started doing it I just fell in love with it.
"For me, boxing is a great sport for any kid that is out of control or who thinks they're a bad boy. Boxing humbles you and teaches you discipline. It teaches you self-control, discipline and self-respect. If you think you're a hard man who can go and stab someone, they will put you in the ring and make you spar someone for one or two rounds and you will realise that this is where it's at."
Boxing was actually a third choice for Whyte.
He was initially drawn into kickboxing and was more than useful. He was crowned the British heavyweight champion, won the European K1 title and finished with a 20-1 record before MMA became fashionable and he tried his hands and feet there, winning his sole fight.
But it was his standup work that stood out and Whyte was persuaded to transfer his handy hands to boxing. His first amateur fight in 2009, at the age of 20, saw him beat Anthony Joshua to ignite a rivalry that still simmers today.
Whyte only became a professional in 2011 and has now fashioned a 23-1 record with his only loss coming to Joshua in late 2015.
He has had seven wins since then and is seen as one of the biggest movers in the division, a fighter whose raw power and aggressive approach have now been complemented by better skills and tactics.
Whyte, who has old school heroes like Dempsey, Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, Lennox Lewis and James Toney, puts it down to hunger.
"Boxing draws you in, you just want more and more. The technical side of it, the mentality side of it, it grows you as a person. That's the difference between boxing and other sports, it's a self-driven sport, you can see yourself going up, climbing and learning."
Whyte has had his troubles in the sport as well. A doping ban in late 2012 saw him lose two years which makes his rapid progress even more remarkable.
He's lived in the shadows of British contemporaries like Joshua and Fury. But now, for the second promotion in a row following his devastating knockout of Australian Lucas Browne in March, finds himself on the billboards as a main act, this time against Parker who returns to the UK looking for a fast way to wipe off his points loss to Joshua that also cost him his WBO belt.
"It means a lot to headline the O2," Whyte said.
"Topping the bills as a star is what I've been working for. Nothing comes easy. Boxing is a hard sport to make a living from and it gets even harder to stay at the top when you get there.
"I'm well aware of that, but I'm a tough man and I don't give up easily.
"I've done it the hard way and battled to get where I am through a lot of setbacks.
"My rage and anger got me to a certain point in the sport and then I had an accident," he said, referring to the doping controversy.
"I'm a realist and an analyst, I took myself away and I realised I had to become more professional and get some good people around me and I made the transition.
"That's what is here now and there's still more to come, but I am getting there.
"You have to be yourself ... if you are and believe in yourself and what you say, you aren't going to do wrong things. You just have to be honest and real, that's all a man can do."
Whyte still looks back at that loss to Joshua with regret. A defensive mistake cost him a fortune, literally, as he suffered a sixth round TKO.
The result saw Joshua win the vacant British heavyweight title. Joshua's next fight was a world title win over Charles Martin and since then he has gone on to be the biggest name in the game.
"Since the AJ loss every fight has been vital because I've been on the comeback trail," Whyte said.
"I was very close to breaking through against AJ and I would've been the man now, so I know what's at stake."
Whyte, who owns the WBC's secondary version of the world title, is desperate to wrap the real thing around his waist. He knows beating Parker will position him well for an opportunity to do just that.
"Winning a world title is something you can never lose. Being heavyweight world champion is the highest honour in sport, it's something I want to say to my kids one day. The money helps of course, no point pretending, but the glory is so important."
Whyte has taken himself away from his family – he has three young kids - for this Parker assignment.
He has set up a training camp in Loughborough on the outskirts of Leicester, a further sign of the seriousness he is approaching this assignment with.
JOSEPH PARKER (NZ and Samoa)
Age: 26
Record: 24-1 (18 KOs)
Height: 1.93cm
Reach: 1.93cm
DILLIAN WHYTE (Jamaica and GB)
Age: 30
Record: 23-1 (17 KOs)
Height: 1.93m
Reach: 1.98m
COMMON OPPONENTS
Lost to Anthony Joshua (GB) – Parker by unanimous points over 12 rounds, Whyte by TKO in round 6.
Beat Brian Minto (GB) - Parker won when Minto threw in towel in round 7, Whyte by 3rd round TKO.
Beat Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (Brazil) - Parker by round 7 TKO, Whyte by round 2 KO
Beat Irineu Beato Costa Junior (Brazil) - Parker by round 4 KO, Whyte won by round 1 KO).
- Stuff
Dillian Whyte sees a fight against Joseph Parker as opening the door to a crack at the big time.
The first time Dillian Whyte was stabbed he saw it as a badge of honour. That happened at the age of 13. It happened at 15 and 16 too. He was shot as well.
Whyte, now 30 and one of the hottest fighters in the heavyweight division, is a classic tale of how boxing turned around someone's life.
He makes Anthony Joshua look something of an angel in terms of his upbringing. And he'll be looking to go one better than Joshua and knock out New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker when they meet in Whyte's backyard at London's O2 Arena on July 29 (NZT).
Dillian Whyte says anger only got him so far in boxing and believes he's a much better technical fighter now.
Coming to Britain from his native Jamaica at the age of 12, Whyte gew up tough in the south London neighbourhood of Brixton.
Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker clash in London in late July.
He mixed with the wrong crowd and trouble inevitably came looking for him as much as he looked for it himself.
His family weren't happy when he chose a violent sport to try to end his violent lifestyle. But a pair of boxing gloves were seen as better than a steel blade or barrel.
"My mum hates the fact that I fight," Whyte told British media as he outlined the back-story to a fighting career that has him poised for a world title shot if he can get past Parker.
Dillian Whyte destroyed Australian Lucas Browne in his last fight at London's O2 Arena in March.
"My sisters hate it too but they understand that boxing gave me a way out. It saved me, it made me someone, it made me the person I am today, mentally and physically.
"I was one of those kids who was not meant to be anything at school, I was either meant to be dead or in prison at this age, to be honest.
"I came here from Jamaica as a kid and didn't go to school really, never had a great education. I was a little bit bad on the street, running around, doing this, doing that and always getting into trouble. I was completely written off so boxing has definitely saved my life.
"I've been stabbed, I've been shot. I wasn't the best kid. I was running around being crazy and excited, and I thought it was cool at the time.
"I thought 'I've been stabbed, I'll show my mates'. I'd lift my top up and say 'look I got done here at the weekend'. But you never realise the risk you were taking in those days."
The people charged with trying to turn Whyte's life around thought the best method would be to get him involved in something that might interest him.
"I got stabbed when I was 13, 16 and 15," he said. "That's actually how I got into fighting. I got into trouble and my youth worker took me to the gym because he saw me always fighting and getting into trouble. Once I started doing it I just fell in love with it.
"For me, boxing is a great sport for any kid that is out of control or who thinks they're a bad boy. Boxing humbles you and teaches you discipline. It teaches you self-control, discipline and self-respect. If you think you're a hard man who can go and stab someone, they will put you in the ring and make you spar someone for one or two rounds and you will realise that this is where it's at."
Boxing was actually a third choice for Whyte.
He was initially drawn into kickboxing and was more than useful. He was crowned the British heavyweight champion, won the European K1 title and finished with a 20-1 record before MMA became fashionable and he tried his hands and feet there, winning his sole fight.
But it was his standup work that stood out and Whyte was persuaded to transfer his handy hands to boxing. His first amateur fight in 2009, at the age of 20, saw him beat Anthony Joshua to ignite a rivalry that still simmers today.
Whyte only became a professional in 2011 and has now fashioned a 23-1 record with his only loss coming to Joshua in late 2015.
He has had seven wins since then and is seen as one of the biggest movers in the division, a fighter whose raw power and aggressive approach have now been complemented by better skills and tactics.
Whyte, who has old school heroes like Dempsey, Sonny Liston, Archie Moore, Lennox Lewis and James Toney, puts it down to hunger.
"Boxing draws you in, you just want more and more. The technical side of it, the mentality side of it, it grows you as a person. That's the difference between boxing and other sports, it's a self-driven sport, you can see yourself going up, climbing and learning."
Whyte has had his troubles in the sport as well. A doping ban in late 2012 saw him lose two years which makes his rapid progress even more remarkable.
He's lived in the shadows of British contemporaries like Joshua and Fury. But now, for the second promotion in a row following his devastating knockout of Australian Lucas Browne in March, finds himself on the billboards as a main act, this time against Parker who returns to the UK looking for a fast way to wipe off his points loss to Joshua that also cost him his WBO belt.
"It means a lot to headline the O2," Whyte said.
"Topping the bills as a star is what I've been working for. Nothing comes easy. Boxing is a hard sport to make a living from and it gets even harder to stay at the top when you get there.
"I'm well aware of that, but I'm a tough man and I don't give up easily.
"I've done it the hard way and battled to get where I am through a lot of setbacks.
"My rage and anger got me to a certain point in the sport and then I had an accident," he said, referring to the doping controversy.
"I'm a realist and an analyst, I took myself away and I realised I had to become more professional and get some good people around me and I made the transition.
"That's what is here now and there's still more to come, but I am getting there.
"You have to be yourself ... if you are and believe in yourself and what you say, you aren't going to do wrong things. You just have to be honest and real, that's all a man can do."
Whyte still looks back at that loss to Joshua with regret. A defensive mistake cost him a fortune, literally, as he suffered a sixth round TKO.
The result saw Joshua win the vacant British heavyweight title. Joshua's next fight was a world title win over Charles Martin and since then he has gone on to be the biggest name in the game.
"Since the AJ loss every fight has been vital because I've been on the comeback trail," Whyte said.
"I was very close to breaking through against AJ and I would've been the man now, so I know what's at stake."
Whyte, who owns the WBC's secondary version of the world title, is desperate to wrap the real thing around his waist. He knows beating Parker will position him well for an opportunity to do just that.
"Winning a world title is something you can never lose. Being heavyweight world champion is the highest honour in sport, it's something I want to say to my kids one day. The money helps of course, no point pretending, but the glory is so important."
Whyte has taken himself away from his family – he has three young kids - for this Parker assignment.
He has set up a training camp in Loughborough on the outskirts of Leicester, a further sign of the seriousness he is approaching this assignment with.
JOSEPH PARKER (NZ and Samoa)
Age: 26
Record: 24-1 (18 KOs)
Height: 1.93cm
Reach: 1.93cm
DILLIAN WHYTE (Jamaica and GB)
Age: 30
Record: 23-1 (17 KOs)
Height: 1.93m
Reach: 1.98m
COMMON OPPONENTS
Lost to Anthony Joshua (GB) – Parker by unanimous points over 12 rounds, Whyte by TKO in round 6.
Beat Brian Minto (GB) - Parker won when Minto threw in towel in round 7, Whyte by 3rd round TKO.
Beat Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (Brazil) - Parker by round 7 TKO, Whyte by round 2 KO
Beat Irineu Beato Costa Junior (Brazil) - Parker by round 4 KO, Whyte won by round 1 KO).
- Stuff