Dillian Whyte: The truth about my shoulder injury
Once again, a shoulder injury has proved to be a major problem for Dillian Whyte and has unfortunately led to tonight’s fight against Otto Wallin being canceled.
But when he spoke to Gareth A. Davies on DAZN’s Off the Cuff, Whyte revealed that a similar injury almost led to his domestic deal with former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua being suspended six years ago.
“Coming the Joshua fight, I had injuries, I could have pulled out the fight. My shoulder was badly raised, I had surgery two days later, Whyte tells Off the Cuff.
“Come the fighting week, I can not move the shoulder. I got two injections, one in the front and one in the middle.”
When it came to the actual fight against Joshua at a sold-out O2 Arena in London, England, Whyte described how he felt when his shoulder split when he struck a blow in the second round.
“When I hit him [Anthony Joshua] with the punch my rotator cushion is broken, I felt it and I went after him. When I throw my shot at a stage, you see my leg buckle because I felt gunshot pain. “
Although White’s corner, which included head coach Johnathan Banks, wanted to pull him out of the fight, Brixton’s heavyweights insisted he would continue and only leave the ring if he was knocked out.
“Hell, no, I’m done,” Whyte replied as his corner told him about their plans to throw in the towel.
“The only way I go out is on my a – e and I did eventually. I fought six more rounds.”
After his loss to Joshua, Whyte learned a lot about fighting pain and how it can affect his fighting style both physically and mentally.
“One thing I learned from that fight is not to be distracted by pain, because when the fight started I think ‘my shoulder is f —- d’. If I hit him this way I hurt my shoulder so I need to strike this way, I think too much. ”
“When I overthink, I lose my fitness, my energy and concentration. When I think too much, he beats me,” Whyte explained.
“In the end I was exhausted, mentally I was exhausted due to the pain and the pressure, I went from fighting in front of 3,000 people to 25,000 people on O2, which was 90% against me.”
Since that fight with Joshua, Whyte has developed into a world-class heavyweight and is now set for a shot at Tyson Fury’s WBC heavyweight title early next year.
Watch Off the Cuff: Dillian Whyte on DAZN.