DILLAIN WHYTE’S trainer was left asking ‘what’s happened?’ after Alexander Povetkin’s shock knockout.
Whyte, 32, had twice floored the Russian in round four but was dramatically stopped in the fifth following a perfect left uppercut.
It was the heavyweight contender’s first fight with Xavier Miller as head trainer.
And Miller was left stunned after their early lead was cancelled out following the earth-shattering shot.
He told Boxing UK: “It was such a shock – that’s not the first thing that went through my mind.
“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘what’s happened?’
“You don’t expect to be in that sort of situation when you’ve just got two knockdowns and the fights going your way.
“That’s the last thing anybody’s thinking is going to happen. That’s the very last thing.”
Whyte’s first loss since 2015 marked the end of his run as WBC mandatory challenger.
He was in line to face champion Tyson Fury, 32, next year but will now need to enact revenge on Povetkin, 41, to win back his right to fight for the title.
Whyte is due to get his crack at redemption by the end of the year, and returned to Portugal to begin training.
Eddie Hearn revealed the beaten fighter has a rematch clause, which they hope to exercise for November.
Hearn told iFL TV: “There’s not many in boxing that honour contracts and honour obligations and their word.
“Andrey Ryabinksiy, Vadim Kornilov and World of Boxing, even if we didn’t have a contract, and we had a shake of the hand or an agreement, they would still do it.
“These are proper, proper people. They don’t want to wait till February/March so we will go November 14, or November 21.”
