ALEN BABIC admits mentor Dillian Whyte’s savage KO loss drove him to tears.
Whyte was so impressed with the Croatian’s spirit and strength in just five rounds of 2019 sparring that he signed him up to his management stable on the spot.
‘The Savage’ enjoyed an eye-catching KO win on Whyte’s Alexander Povetkin undercard on August 22 but was gutted when the Russian veteran put his pal to sleep in the fifth of the main event.
Whyte has not let the shock loss affect his stable, getting his favourite ex-bouncer on another Sky Sports show this Sunday in Milton Keynes.
And Babic will thank his boss with brutal practice rounds ahead of the November 21 rematch.
“I had a tear in my eye that night but I know that Dillian is a beast and he will be back, no problem”, Babic said ahead of his clash with Niall Kennedy.
“Dillian has reacted in the best possible way, jumping into the rematch and I love that he is not afraid.
“We do eight round spars all the time and he is such a hard hitter, he hits you with f****** everything.
“As soon as I get out of here I will head to Portugal to help with his training camp and give him everything I have.”
Babic intends to blitz his respected Irish opponent at the Marshall Arena inside the MK Dons stadium and he hopes Whyte does the same next month.
The 32-year-old Brixton ace dropped Povetkin twice in the fourth but paid the price for not going in for the kill, a gameplan no-nonsense Babic did not agree with.
“I didn’t like that and I told Dillian and his coach Xavier,” he said. “You cannot box an Olympic champion, you smash them with power and strength.
“Dillian has massive raw power but he waited to use it and that was enough for Povetkin to use his skill and experience in that split second.
“But Dillian has told him he will be more of a savage in this fight and that is what I think he has to do.”
Babic only had four day’s rest back in his homeland before the rapid turnaround but it was a beer-drenched homecoming he squeezed the most out of.
“It was beautiful going home, people just wanted to meet me and I was not allowed to spend any money in the pubs,” he said.
“I felt like a big star among my humble people now and I want to carry on doing them proud.”
