Dillian Whyte has announced he is splitting with trainer Mark Tibbs ahead of his huge showdown with Russian Alexander Povetkin next month.
Whyte (27-1) puts the WBC interim heavyweight championship of the world on the line when he meets the 40-year-old former WBA heavyweight king Povetkin (35-2-1) at Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex on Saturday August 22.
On Wednesday he dropped the bombshell that he will go into a fight without Tibbs heading up his corner for the first time in four years – the pair had linked up following Whyte’s only professional defeat to date, a TKO loss to now IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua back in December 2015.
Whyte said on Instagram: “Just to let everyone know Mark Tibbs and I are no longer working together as boxer and trainer.
“I’m training in Portugal and Mark has a young family and his own new gym in the UK. It means it just hasn’t worked out in the way we had both hoped.
“Mark came into my team four years ago and has helped turn me into the world class boxer that I am today. Mark is a great trainer and I will always be grateful to him and his Dad for all they have done.”
After linking up with Tibbs in 2016, Whyte had reeled off 11 straight victories in cementing his position in the upper echelon of heavyweight boxing today. He is due a WBC world title shot – against the winner of Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3 – by the end of February 2021 and recently took legal action against the governing body in a bid to ensure that does happen.
Whyte’s showdown with Povetkin meanwhile had been due to take place on May 2 but that date was scuppered due to the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic. But the Britxon fighter was happy to take the opportunity to fight the Russian behind closed doors to stay active and keep in tune for that eagerly-awaited title shot.
Whyte vs Povetkin will be shown live on pay-per-view by Sky Sports Box Office in the UK while it will air on DAZN in the United States.
