Dillian Whyte’s trainer Buddy McGirt has insisted that his man can still win a world heavyweight title.

Whyte, who previously fell short for world honors against Tyson Fury two years ago, had been out of the ring for 16-months before he returned against Christian Hammer last month. 

It was Whyte’s first fight since an adverse finding in a test for PEDs ahead of his rematch with domestic rival Anthony Joshua. 

As a consequence, Robert Helenius stepped in to face Joshua and Whyte presented evidence to a Sky Sports crew that he had been cleared by the Texas Commission to continue his career, with the commission and the broadcaster seemingly satisfied by the independent research they had been shown which, apparently, indicated the result was down to a contaminated substance.

Regardless of the lay-off, Whyte’s trainer still believes the now 36-year-old is capable of winning a world title.

“I honestly think he can become a champion,” said McGirt. “I mean, if I didn't have faith in him, I would not be wasting neither one of our times.”

Whyte looked far from the fighter of his peak in his last fight, when he faced Hammer last month. He struggled to land anything notable and after a seemingly underwhelming three rounds from both men, Hammer decided that he’d had enough. McGirt isn’t looking into his fighter's display too deeply, blaming the opponent for Whyte’s display.

“Well, you know, it’s hard, I’m not even gonna judge Dillian on it because Hammer just came out like a wild man and went for broke, he went for broke early. I told Dillian, ‘Look he’s going to quit, I’m telling you he’s gonna give it all he got and if it doesn’t work, he’s gonna quit,’ and that’s exactly what happened.”

Whyte’s return to boxing and his sluggish performance has led to former opponent Joseph Parker wanting to rerun their encounter from 2018. The classic matchup, in which both fighters were knocked down, ended with Whyte’s hand being raised, but after wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, it now seems Parker is confident of a victory.

The WBO interim champion called out Whyte in typical comical fashion, but although McGirt has respect for Parker, he believes Whyte would come out on top again.

“Yeah I saw [the call out video], I thought it was very funny,” joked McGirt. “I think it'd be a very good fight for boxing. I didn’t see the first fight, I’m not gonna lie to you. But listen, I love and got nothing but tons of respect for Mr. Parker. I mean, I think he’s one hell of a fighter. I’ve always thought that when I first met him, when he was a kid, I thought he was special. But my man Dillian is going to do the job.”

McGirt confirmed that he is still working with his stable of U.K. fighters and also revealed that he has another British fighter joining him soon.

“I have Khalil Majid, I have Dan Azeez and Callum Smith, and I might be working with another guy, but I’m not going to say anything until it’s done,” said McGirt.