Dillian Whyte looks in prime physical condition to reclaim his spot in line for a showdown with the winner of Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.

He has been training hard for his upcoming rematch with Alexander Povetkin.

The bout could act as a stepping stone for him, provided he gets past the sizeable challenge of Povetkin, who knocked out Whyte in an upset last August.

Whyte came into the first Povetkin bout off the back of a fight against Mariusz Wach. Whyte took the Wach fight on three weeks’ notice, and on the day of the weigh-in hit the scales rather hard, coming in at an off-peak 19st 5lbs.

At the time, Whyte’s career was in jeopardy after an ‘adverse finding’ in a UKAD drug test. On same day as the Wach fight weigh-in, UKAD cleared him of all wrongdoing.

Despite coming into the fight heavy, with a visibly soft body composition, and giving a disappointing performance, Whyte won a unanimous decision.

Achieving victory in the Wach bout and against the UKAD case, gave Whyte an opportunity to get five months of hard, continuous training before the first Povetkin clash.

His physique noticeably improved as a result, but he stumbled to a surprise fifth round K/O loss.

This result left Whyte’s career in a precarious position once more, as he is in danger of losing touching distance with Fury and Joshua atop the heavyweight division.

Promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky:

“Must-win, because Dillian Whyte’s aim is to win a world heavyweight championship. Dillian Whyte’s aim and our aim is to get him in the position to fight for the world heavyweight championship.

"Without that, I don’t think he has any interest, career-wise.

"That is the ultimate strategy, aim, focus. If he loses against Povetkin, that is out – and it’s not just out for six months or a year. That could be out forever.”

Whyte continued training with great vigour since losing to Povetkin in their first fight, and his physique is progressing well. He will likely weigh-in for the rematch significantly leaner than the Wach bout.

He will expect that this time his hard work will be rewarded via a brutal revenge K/O against Povetkin.