Whyte is definitely not levels above him, it would be an interesting clash. Kabayel is more of a boxer while Whyte would be trying to rough him up and knock him out, I’d actually like to see it.
I think Whyte's punch resistance has been on the wane for a good while now. The Povetkin fight has probably turned him chinny now you would imagine.
Whyte and Chisora are exactly the same, old pub style plodders with no real ability, a real boxer outboxes both every day of the week, it's the reason Chisora has ten losses and basically lost 80% of the rounds last weekend, Whyte is exactly the same, just I think Chisora was actually far tougher in his earlier days
Hearn is a just hyping up his guy which is his main talent. Kabayel would give Whyte a hard fight and he knows it.
Its not that you don't have a point, but I don't think we really know this. The data we have says that Kabayel would be better, and you are correct in pointing out that the data is flawed. But, given how limited it is, how do we swing the pendulum all the way to the other side?
Well the best opponent Kabayel has beaten is Chisora. Whyte has not only beaten Chisora twice he was able to KO KO Chisora unlike Kabayel. Also Whyte has beaten better opponents than Chisora (unlike Kabayel) in Parker and Rivas. Whyte has top 5 resume and Kabayel doesn't have a top 10 resume at present. So yes at present irs certainly fair to say Whyte is levela above Kabayel.
“Levels above” is a silly statement. How about this, How does Kabayel do against Parker and Povetkin? I personally think they both stop him.
Hearn says that now but did he ever make an offer for Whyte-Kabayel when Kabayel was European champion ?
I’m sorry, I know it’s been said millions of times on here, but I just can’t help but add context to Whyte’s best wins in Parker and Rivas. Parker is coasting to a 10-9 round in that 2nd round and gets floored with an headbutt to make it 10-8 to Whyte. Then after getting floored he clinches for dear life almost leaning Parker over the ropes which Ian John Lewis allows. I believe Parker got screwed over that night by our officials...not the first and has proven he hasn’t been the last. So let’s not make out that that was a legitimate crystal clear win. He was better than Rivas on that night although he got floored. Rivas was prevented by the ref from working Whyte over in the 12th, pulling them apart when Rivas was still throwing shots. Now I’ll chuck in the gloves fiasco which is significant in that he was wearing completely different gloves than what was signed off by the BBBofC. Added to that, Whyte pops for PEDs a few days before the fight without Rivas’s team being made aware. Both of them fights stunk of home town cooking for me. Yes, boxrec puts a ‘W’ in the column but they don’t sit right with me. So Whyte hasn’t proven he’s above Kabayel for me.
I don't think Whyte is 'levels' above any top 20-30 heavyweight but then again I don't rate him highly at all. As rightly mentioned above he has massively benefited from all his big fights being on home soil on PPV shows put on by his own promoter. The Parker and Rivas fights are the two best examples, but Whyte vs Chisora 1 was also very, very close. There is undeniable more than an element of luck to his meaningful wins, and against Povetkin his luck just ran out. He has punch power, strength and heart over Kabayel, but Kabayel is the the better boxer, better technically and is a good few years younger with less miles on the clock. Dillian has been dropped by Rivas, knocked out cold by Povetkin, smashed to pieces by Joshua, then there's the two grueling 12 and 11 round wars vs Chisora. I think physically a younger fresher fighter with good movement will exploit all that. To me Whyte vs Kabayel is a 50-50.
On top of what @Twentyman said about Whyte's wins, most scored Whyte's first fight with Chisora in favour of Chisora. Whyte has the better resume, but is coming off a heavy KO. Kabeyel is unbeaten which usually counts for something, but is very unproven outside of the Chisora fight. I don't think either is a good style to fight Fury, and they just aren't as good. I'd consider Whyte the better opponent, but certainly not by levels. Though I'll eat humble pie of Kabeyel proves me wrong.