British heavyweight Dillian Whyte goes into tonight’s clash with Alexander Povetkin, knowing all about what hardships are like in life.
Whyte, 32, became a father at 13. He has been shot twice and stabbed three times.
Discussing his gangster-type life back in Jamaica, Whyte spent time in prison before turning his life around for his kids.
In a revealing interview with Sky Sports this week, ‘The BodySnatcher’ discussed what he’d covered lots in the past.
Assassination attempts on his life and pulling a bullet out with pliers are just two reasons he wanted to change his path.
What motivates him now is clear.
“My kids, my family,” he told Sky Sports. “Making sure my children never have to do the stuff that I did growing up because I took a lot of risks and did a lot of dangerous things.
“A lot of things that you shouldn’t even do as an adult, but I had to do them as a kid because I had to survive. I needed to eat.
“There have been assassination attempts on my life. People have tried to kill me. I never want my family, my brothers, sister, my kids to go through these things.”
Previously, Whyte talked to 1 NEWS about his transition from the Caribbean.
“You know I was born in Jamaica, suffered a lot, and been through a lot of hardships. Came here (England) suffered many hardships and made a lot of wrong choices,” said Whyte.
“Suffered a lot here. One thing led to another. I finally decided to fight in combat sports, started training. It just turned my life around.”
“I was a dad at 13-years-old, so I have been looking after kids, and I had to rush my mental state, growing up a lot faster.
“When you become a dad, it changes everything, where most kids were running around. I’m working two jobs and doing other things to get money to feed my children.
DILLIAN WHYTE STRUGGLE
“I’m trying to win these fights, so my kids have a good life and make sure they don’t have to struggle the way I struggled.
“It (boxing) saved my life, you know, a lot of kids like me – a lot of kids that grew up with me are either dead or in prison for a long time.
“I was meant to be one of the kids. That was what was written for me in the books.
“Thank God I found something that I like doing and descent at it, and I have gotten better and better.
“It’s saved my life. It has taken me off the street, given me direction, and shown me I can rise and inspire people from similar backgrounds and other backgrounds.”
Dillian Whyte has the chance to overturn a damaging loss to Povetkin last August. Furthermore, he begins the bookies’ favorite to do so tonight.
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