TYSON FURY fears Dillian Whyte could suffer ‘serious brain damage’ if his instant Alexander Povetkin rematch ends in another gruesome KO.
The Gypsy King and Brixton ace have shared a fiery relationship recently.
Whyte was a long-running mandatory challenger to Fury’s WBC title before his shock August 22 loss to Povetkin.
The Body Snatcher has leapt off the canvas and straight into a November 21 rematch against the Russian slugger.
A rerun win will put the 32-year-old Brit back in line for a crack at Fury’s world title.
But the 6ft 9in undefeated ace fears another concussive defeat to the former Olympic and world champ could have catastrophic consequences.
Fury told talkSPORT: “Povetkin was a major upset and this rematch is too soon for Dillian.
“I took six months off to recover after taking big shots in the first Wilder fight.
“And if he gets chinned again like that he could end up with serious brain damage.
“But what do I know, I have only been doing this for 30 years.”
Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn told SunSport: “There are two ways to look at it; Dillian controlled the fight and was moments from winning until a one-in-a-million punch stunned him and the chances of that happening again in the rematch are very small.
“Or you can say that Povetkin took two of Dillian’s best shots, got off the floor twice and stopped him with the only real punch he connected with.
“It wasn’t a 12-round war or a prolonged beating so physically Dillian should be fine but the rematch is more about the psychological side.
“Dillian demanded the rematch straight away, no hesitation, because he believes it was just a split second mistake that he can correct.
“But Povetkin also snapped up the rematch because he now thinks he has the beating of Dillian and can pop back over to double his money with another easy night’s work.
“A knockout like that you can physically recover from reasonably quickly. But mentally it can leave a mark on fighters and we will find out on November 21.”
