Today an announcement was made through Matchroom Boxing that heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte (26-1, 18 KOs) will be added to the fight card in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia on December 7th headlined by the heavyweight title fight between Andy Ruiz, Jr. and Anthony Joshua.

Whyte will take on Mariusz Wach (35-5, 19 KOs) in the undercard of an event that has multiple heavyweight fights on it before the Ruiz-Joshua rematch. Whyte will be in his second fight this year as he defeated Oscar Rivas at the O2 Arena in July. That bout was covered in controversy as Whyte had to go through a hearing with the British Boxing Board of Control after an adverse finding was discovered, stating that Whyte had taken samples of dianabol before his fight on July 20th. This finding by UKAD forced the WBC to provisionally suspend him from being the interim champion and the mandatory challenger to WBC world champion Deontay Wilder. Whyte has been fighting that ruling since, but now he can get prepared to be in the ring in a couple of weeks.

“I’m delighted to be fighting in Saudi Arabia against Mariusz Wach,” Whyte said in reaction to the announcement. “He’s probably got one of the best chins in the Heavyweight division. I have been training and working hard to fight so it’s great to get a date and it’s very exciting for me to be fighting somewhere different like Saudi Arabia.”

Wach was a former world title contender in 2012 before losing to Wladimir Klitschko in Germany. He tried to get back in the hunt with a string of victories, but then fell short against Alexander Povetkin in November 2015. Since then, he has had a record of 4-3 in his last seven fights including a stoppage loss to Jarrell Miller in 2017. He will look to upset Whyte who has been riding a ten fight winning streak.

Whyte on the other hand wants to keep that streak going en route to a shot at a world title next year.

“I’m just going to keep chasing the World titles, so if I keep winning then I hope to land that World title shot in 2020, that’s the plan for December 7th.”

Cover photo by Reuters