Dillian Whyte insists he wants a rematch against Tyson Fury after claiming he was illegally pushed and should have been given more time to recover during Saturday’s heavyweight title clash at Wembley Stadium.
The undefeated Fury easily retained his WBC, The Ring and lineal heavyweight titles in front of 94,000 fans on his first UK outing since 2018, dominating long-time mandatory challenger Whyte before inflicting the knockout blow with a devastating right uppercut at the climax of round six, which was followed by a shove.
The defending champion was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the emphatic stoppage, afterwards reiterating his intention to retire from boxing - a claim doubted by many with a potential money-spinning undisputed showdown looming later this year against the winner of the rematch between Ukraine’s WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO title-holder Oleksandr Usyk and domestic rival Anthony Joshua, likely to take place in Saudi Arabia on July 23.
It was a disappointing performance from Whyte, who had been waiting a number of years to finally achieve his shot at heavyweight gold after first winning the WBC interim title in 2019.
And ‘The Bodysnatcher’ has now called Saturday’s knockout “illegal” as he criticised Fury and the refereeing of Mark Lyson, who saw Whyte get back to his feet but promptly waved off the bout when the challenger stumbled badly on uncertain legs when asked to walk forward.
At that time, Fury could be seen asking the referee to end the fight from the corner in a bid to avoid having to inflict any more punishment.
“When the uppercut landed I was buzzed, but I was trying to regather my senses and he proper full-on pushed me and I fell over and hit my head on the canvas, which is illegal,” Whyte told Sky Sports on Monday.
“This isn’t wrestling, this is boxing. But as usual, they let Fury do what he wants and get away with it. I should have been allowed extra time to recover and carry on fighting.
“He pushed me and then he said to the referee, ‘don’t let the fight carry on’. The referee isn’t doing his job. Okay I got caught, no doubt. A good shot. I went for the left uppercut, he went for the right uppercut and he’s a bit taller than me, so obviously he landed his at range and I was hurt.
“I didn’t go straight down, I was hurt and trying to get my senses together, then he full on two-handed pushed me. I fell over and hit my head. A terrible job from the referee but it is what it is.”
Had Whyte been ruled fit to continue at Wembley, he would surely have been at least momentarily saved by the bell with only a solitary second remaining before the end of round six.
“I should have had time to recover, I had time to go back to my corner,” Whyte added. “Tyson Fury gets away with a lot of things.”
Stating his desire for another shot at Fury in future, he said: “I hope he doesn’t retire because I want another go.”
