DILLIAN WHYTE has revealed he endured multiple attempts on his life before he committed himself to combat sports.
The Brixton Body Snatcher often found himself in trouble as a youngster on the mean streets of south London.
Dillian Whyte used to get in a lot of trouble when he was younger
The Brixton Body Snatcher had multiple attempts made on his life back in the day
But his troubles lessened after he took up kickboxing – which he believes helped save his life
Even when he wasn’t looking for it, trouble often found the once hot-headed Whyte – who took up kickboxing in the early 2000s to channel his aggression.
He told BT Sport: “Kickboxing took my time up. And I was so tired and so f***ed from the training and getting beat up, when it came time to go out on the street I was like, ‘I’m going to bed.’
“I spent more time in my house and less time in the street. And that saved my life.
“Because at that time, I had multiple attempts on my life.
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“I’d been shot and stabbed and other things were going on.”
Things were once so bad for Whyte that he couldn’t even leave his house without fear of being attacked.
He revealed: “I had to live in my area but I couldn’t go directly outside.
“I had to go around and ducking and diving and stuff like that. Going to my house and people jumping out of bins trying to shoot me.
“Crazy stuff. Stuff that if people knew, they’d think that it’s a movie.
“It’s like things that have happened to me. People say, ‘I’ve had a tough life, I had to sell fruits in my country to [get by].’
“I was like, ‘S**t, I wish I had fruits to sell.’ I normally had to steal fruits to survive. I wish I had fruits to sell.
“I just thank the people around me and thank them for believing in me because sometimes you can lose belief in yourself a little bit. Thank these people that believe in you.
“Even sometimes just in the gym circuit, I’m thinking, ‘I can’t, I can’t.’
“And my coach is like, ‘Yes you can.’ Just little things. It’s crazy, man. Crazy.”
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Whyte, 33, believes he would’ve been dead or in prison for murder had he not taken up combat sports.
He said: “I done kickboxing to stop me from getting killed on the road or me killing someone on the street.
“I was out there putting in work.
“I was just out there running around and talking rubbish.
“Some of these guys say, ‘Oh yeah, I grew up tough.’ I grew up tough.
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“I had no choice, I had to be tough. I had to do things to survive.
“I had kids early, I had responsibilities and things. I got acclimatised to a certain lifestyle, I was doing certain things.
“I grew up tough, I never had no choice. Thank God I was able to make the decision [and say], ‘You know what?
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“I need to stop this and do something else.’ And that’s what happened.”
Whyte is currently gearing up for a showdown with former sparring partner and WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, whom he’ll face at Wembley on Saturday night.
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