Whyte vs Parker: Weigh-in may reveal how Dillian Whyte & Joseph Parker approach fight

Whyte vs Parker: Weigh-in may reveal how Dillian Whyte & Joseph Parker approach fight

Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker’s weigh-in results offer an inkling into how they will fight each other – but someone’s secrets are hidden behind the stones, pounds and ounces, writes James Dielhenn.

The heavyweight contenders have both come in heavier than expected which means someone, if you believe what you hear, is approaching this fight differently to how they claim. It will be won and lost with who can implement their will, and on the eve of the first bell, we uncovered more clues about what they might try.

Whyte (18st 6lbs 9oz) was five pounds heavier than when he knocked out Lucas Browne in March, Parker (17st 4lbs 8oz) was six pounds heavier than when he took Anthony Joshua 12 rounds. Both men might have posted lighter statistics but there will be brutal intentions behind their bulk.

Whyte vs Parker: Weigh-in may reveal how Dillian Whyte & Joseph Parker approach fight

1:09 The head-to-head at the weigh-in

Dillian Whyte’s key weigh-in results

  • Browne – 18st 2lbs
  • Helenius – 17st 10lbs
  • Chisora – 17st 8lbs
  • Lewison – 18st 1lbs
  • Allen – 17st 7lbs
  • Joshua – 17st 9lbs

Joseph Parker’s key weigh-in results

  • Joshua – 16st 12lbs
  • Hughie – 17st 7lbs
  • Cojanu – 17st 9lbs
  • Ruiz – 17st 9lbs
  • Takam – 16st 10lbs

Firstly, Parker; he has been billed as the matador in this fight but remember that they usually beat the bull. Matadors don’t lack viciousness and the “running” that Whyte has predicted might be a bluff from Parker.

He was 16st 12lbs against Joshua, an intentional dip from 17st 7lbs when he met Hughie Fury, because he planned non-stop movement for 36 minutes. Whyte expects the same tactics but Parker is six pounds heavier than when he fought Joshua.

“We’ll be [a similar weight] to the last fight,” Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry predicted on Thursday and perhaps Parker’s increase can be attributed to the quick turnaround between fights.

“It’s very important that Joe follows our game-plan,” Barry said. “If we allow Dillian to close the distance it will be a tough fight.”

So either Parker plans to box-and-move and isn’t as light as he could be, or those tactics are a smokescreen to trick Whyte. It’s been four fights since Parker knocked anybody out.

“It’s been a while. I miss the feeling,” he growled to Sky Sports this week.

On Friday, Parker revealed more, saying: “Coming in heavier will mean I trade more.”

Whyte vs Parker: Weigh-in may reveal how Dillian Whyte & Joseph Parker approach fight

Parker’s speed advantage has been admitted by Whyte and his promoter Eddie Hearn, but they were talking about the speed of foot. Perhaps Parker thinks the speed of his hands, supported by a heavier frame, could hurt Whyte in the early rounds.

Whyte weighed-in over a stone heavier than Parker. Interestingly, that is heavier than when he fought Browne, a fight that suited a frame for slugging. Note that Whyte’s latest weight is almost a stone heavier than when he fought Dereck Chisora in December 2016, when he won a decision after a gruelling back-and-forth fight.

The Londoner has improved as a boxer since then, in part due to his methodical use of Loughborough University’s sports science facilities, so his latest weight is of interest. He is heavier than any of his previous fights at the top level (since he faced Joshua two-and-a-half years ago).

“We’ll be four or five pounds lighter than our last fight. A touch lighter,” Whyte’s trainer Mark Tibbs predicted this week but it never came to fruition.

It might have been part of an elaborate plan to market himself as Whyte the boxer, instead of Whyte the fighter.

Expecting Parker to be cautious, Whyte’s weight could be going all-in on the knockout. Buoyed by the brutality of flattening Browne earlier this year, adding muscle to his ever-solidifying physique could be interpreted as adding power to his punch. Parker has never been on the floor, as an amateur or a pro.

Someone is throwing stones in a glass house.

Watch Dillian Whyte vs Joseph Parker with Katie Taylor, Dereck Chisora, Joshua Buatsi, Conor Benn and more the undercard, live on Sky Sports Box Office, from The O2, Saturday, July 28.

You can book via your Sky remote, via sky.com/boxofficeonline here and even if you aren’t a Sky subscriber you can book and watch it via skysports.com/boxofficelive.

Whyte vs Parker: Weigh-in may reveal how Dillian Whyte & Joseph Parker approach fight

Sourse: skysports.com

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