Dillian Whyte gets his shot at world title challenger with Oscar Rivas fight

After more than 600 days at No. 1 on the WBC’s heavyweight rankings, Dillian Whyte will finally have a shot at becoming mandatory challenger this weekend when he meets Oscar Rivas.

While the boxing world is mostly fixed on the Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman welterweight title clash on July 20, the WBC has raised the stakes on another fight of interest that day — a heavyweight clash between Dillian Whyte and Oscar Rivas.

In an announcement made via Twitter on July 17, the WBC and president Mauricio Sulaiman announced two added stipulations: the winner of the fight will be both the interim WBC heavyweight champion and will be named mandatory challenger to current WBC champion Deontay Wilder.

For Whyte, this represents a chance to become the mandatory challenger to a major boxing heavyweight world championship he has so long desired. Whyte has been atop the WBC’s heavyweight ranks for more than 600 days and has been passed up for the status before.

Whyte is considered one of boxing’s best heavyweight fighters but is sometimes left out of the championship picture involving Wilder, former WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO unified heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury and current unified champion Andy Ruiz Jr.

In April 2018, the WBC ordered a final title eliminator between Whyte and Luis Ortiz, while naming Dominic Breazeale as the mandatory challenger, sparking a beef of more than a year between Whyte and the boxing governing body.

Rather than taking the Ortiz fight, or an IBF-ordered bout between him and Kubrat Pulev, Whyte opted to face former WBO champion Joseph Parker, winning a unanimous decision. Whyte then knocked out Dereck Chisora in their December 2018 rematch.

Whyte also had failed negotiations with the then-unified heavyweight champion Joshua earlier this year.

Rivas, meanwhile, is undefeated at 26-0 and will come into this bout off two NABF heavyweight title defenses in two months — besting Fabio Maldonado in a decision in early December before a 12th-round stoppage win over former title challenger Bryant Jennings in mid-January.

The sanctioning of an interim title to be on the line for Whyte vs. Rivas when the mandatory status is at stake — and champion Wilder is healthy and active — is unknown but not uncommon in boxing, as evidenced by the numerous WBA titles, including “Super” “Regular” and “Interim” titles, as well as the WBC’s “Franchise champion” distinction recently given to middleweight Canelo Alvarez.

Wilder is expected to defend his WBC title in a rematch with Luis Ortiz this fall, and should all things work out, will face Tyson Fury in a rematch that could likely take place in Q1 2020. The Whyte-Rivas winner could most likely face whomever the champion is sometime in Q2 or Q3 2020.

Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas takes place on July 20, headlining a Matchroom Boxing card at the O2 Arena in London, England. The card will be streamed on DAZN and is available in the U.K. via Sky Sports.