While the exact circumstances surrounding Dillian Whyte and his ‘clearance’ of intentional use of steroids are still highly debatable, the British heavyweight has already moved on to schedule his next fight. Whyte is set to face German heavyweight veteran Christian Hammer in his comeback set to be held in Ireland at the TF Royal Hotel in a show that will be promoted by Platform Sport on March 17th, this coming Sunday.
From first testing positive for an unknown illegal substance last August to now being involved for his first fight of the year, more questions have now risen in regards to Dillian Whyte (29-3, 19 KO’s) as he is set for a return to the ring at the end of this week against German heavyweight Christian Hammer (27-10, 17 KO’s) in a non-title bout with the total number of rounds yet to be announced.
Dillian Whyte last fought in November of 2022 against Jermaine Franklin (22-2, 14 KO’s) where he controversially won by majority decision. Months later, Whyte was set to face Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KO’s) in a rematch scheduled for August before a “analytical adverse finding” stopped the fight in its tracks and forced Whyte off the card. Following a declaration of innocence following the revelation of his failed drug test, Whyte was presumably undergoing a suspension for the next half year before reports from earlier this month claimed he had been exonerated.
With no specified governing body having announced anything regarding Whyte being cleared―and the only evidence of any sort of exoneration pertaining to an article by Sky Sports which did not verify which exact governing body exonerated the British heavyweight, the announcement of Whyte’s fight little more than a week after his ‘clearance’ is perfectly reflective of the inconsistency and/or corruption that the sport of boxing continues to wrestle with.
Thus far, Dillian Whyte has been confirmed to hold a boxing license with Texas’ commission that regulates and governs combat sports, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which is set to expire this year on November 15th.
Dillian Whyte’s move to fight in Ireland is also somewhat peculiar due to the sudden announcement of his upcoming fight occurring roughly a week after the reports that he had been ‘cleared’ of intentional drug use due to intaking a contaminated supplement. As it would take at least four weeks to prepare for a professional fight―and longer when taking into account Whyte’s match had to be made, the information surrounding Whyte’s clearance had clearly been withheld for at least a month until the news of his supposed exoneration first came out.
The Whyte-Hammer fight will feature as the main event of Platform Sport’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” boxing event, set to be held in Castlebar, Ireland, and will take place on Saint Patrick’s Day, an annual religious/cultural holiday in Ireland. Irish heavyweight Thomas Carty (7-0, 6 KO’s) will further participate in the card’s main event alongside Czech heavyweight Pavel Sour (19-19, 11 KO’s).
In his excitement to return, Dillian Whyte also left a jubilated message on his social media as he vowed to put on a show on March 17th.
“March 17th let’s gooooo! I’m back,” Whyte stated on Instagram. “Let’s make history in Castlebar, Westport, on Saint Patrick’s day. All I want is violence….“
