The world of boxing has given DIllian Whyte quite the ride over the past two-and-a-bit years.

He's had seven bouts since suffering his only professional defeat to Anthony Joshua in December 2015, a fight in which Whyte seriously rocked the now-world heavyweight champion in the early stages.

'The Body Snatcher' won the WBC silver heavyweight title in his last outing against Robert Helenius, having made his debut in America before that with a knockout victory over Malcolm Tann.

And of course no one can forget his infamous scrap with Dereck Chisora 14 months ago, which Whyte won via a controversial split decision.

The pair had numerous bust-ups at press conferences, most notably when Chisora launched a table at his opponent, which nearly caused the bout to be postponed.

Whyte has expressed a desire to fight Tony Bellew over recent months, but he has instead ended up penning a deal to meet Australian Lucas Browne next month at the O2 Arena.

Browne is no stranger to controversy himself, having failed two drugs tests for performance enhancers in 2016, all but ruining any reputation he had built up.

Earlier this week, Whyte revealed how he got into boxing - and gave a shocking story that showed it saved his life.

He revealed that as a teenager he had been both stabbed and shot, admitting he used to show off about his stab wounds.

It just goes to show how brilliant the sport is for kids who find themselves in trouble, and Whyte says he owes his life to boxing.

"My past - I've been stabbed, I've been shot. I wasn't the best kid." he started. "I was running around being crazy and excited and I thought it was cool at the time.

"I thought 'I've been stabbed, I'll show my mates'. I'd lift my top up and say 'look I got done here at the weekend'. But you never realise the risk you were taking in those days.

"I got into trouble and my youth worker took me to the gym because he saw me always fighting and getting into trouble.

"He took me kickboxing to learn and once I started doing it I just fell in love with it.

"I thought 'man, you can actually beat someone up, have a fight, get paid and not go to prison. That sounded good to me."

Whyte isn't the first, and he certainly won't be the last, to have his whole life turned around by boxing.

He believes that, if it wasn't for the lessons that the sport teaches, he would either be in prison or dead by now.

"Boxing definitely saved my life. I was one of those kids who was not meant to be anything at school," he continued. "I was either meant to be dead or in prison at this age, to be honest.

"For me, boxing is a great sport for any kid that is out of control or who thinks they're a bad boy.

"Boxing humbles you and teaches you discipline. It teaches you self control, discipline and self respect.

"If you think you're a hard man who can go and stab someone, they will put you in the ring and make you spar someone for one or two rounds and you will realise that this is where it's at."

If all goes to plan against Browne, Whyte will well and truly be in with a shot at a world title, and could even end up with a rematch against Joshua if he gets past Joseph Parker and then Deontay Wilder.

That would be some turnaround from bragging about stab wounds and bullet marks.