Mark Tibbs talks exclusively to BBN about his heavyweight charge Dillian Whyte's forthcoming fight with Lucas Browne
Ahead of Dillian Whyte’s WBC Silver title clash with Australian rival Lucas Browne at the O2 on March 24, trainer Mark Tibbs tells Joseph Siza his expectations for fight night:
How do you feel about the matchup against Browne – is it the right fight at the right time for Dillian?
"It’s a good fight, the public are going to like it. There’s a lot of needle, quite a bit of animosity between the two of them, both have good records and, therefore, I feel Eddie has done a good job in pulling this fight off."
What are the strengths and weaknesses you see in Lucas Browne as a fighter?
"His pluses are his power, his three big wins on his record will also give him confidence.
We definitely have to watch that power, but Dillian, I believe, is the far more superior boxer and has the better ring craft.
Although people talk about Dillian being a bit inexperienced, he’s been around – he’s been in the gyms in Detroit and has trained in Austria at the Klitschko camp."
Providing all goes well on March 24th, will Dillian be ready for a world title shot after this fight?
"He will be, he will be, one fight at a time!"
Whyte’s last outing was against Helenius last October – looking back at it now how do you reflect on that win?
"I thought Helenius would engage a little more than he did and would try and hold the centre of the ring a bit more.
I was very pleased with how Dillian never got frustrated and never spat his dummy out, so to speak, instead he cut the ring off well and grounded him down, in a convincing win.
It’s very difficult when someone is on the backpedal for the entire time. I was very happy with Dillian’s mature mindset towards it."
Do you believe that the notion of a grudge match brings the best out of Dillian?
"Yeah definitely – we’ve been together for six fights now and I feel that a bit of emotion in this fight isn’t going to hurt. We need a little bit of emotion whereas beforehand I’ve tried to curb that away from him. Obviously we don’t want emotions to over roar it all, but it would be nice to have a little bit and I think it will definitely bring the best out of him."
A fighter who has been linked with a potential Whyte fight for a while is Deontay Wilder, how do you see him faring against Luis Ortiz when they clash on March 3rd?
"I like Luis Ortiz but he’s definitely getting on a bit and looks old! I like his style, the way he preps – he’s a real old school fighter and talented. But is he a bit past it now? I really don’t know.
Wilder has got power so that makes it interesting. To beat Wilder you’ve got to get hold of him and push him on the back foot and he won’t be the same man as he is when he’s hitting you on the chin!"
'Deontay Wilder is a disgrace', blasts Dillian Whyte