Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte will meet in a battle of top British heavyweights in the spring, but only once contracts get signed on both sides.
Last week, the most significant purse bid in the history of the sport got tabled by Frank Warren to fend off the advances of rival Eddie Hearn.
Hall of Famer Warren didn’t want to give Hearn any part of the fight. Hearn winning would have seen Fury fighting on DAZN over BT Sport and ESPN.
Whyte will get a career-high purse of just over seven million. That total is a couple of million more than offered by Matchroom Boxing for the fight.
Therefore, all systems should fire for a massive UK Pay Per View top division battle at a packed stadium to be named soon.
However, it’s not that simple.
DILLIAN WHYTE ACTION
When launching arbitration against the World Boxing Council over the 80-20 split offered for the mandatory bout, Whyte put the whole fight under a cloud.
‘The Body Snatcher’ still hasn’t settled on the fact his split is twenty-five percent less than the usual for a number one challenger.
If he fails to bump up the twenty percent share through legal action, it remains questionable if he’ll put the Fury contract in for the lower offer.
World Boxing Council chiefs have since given a deadline of February for Whyte to hand in the paperwork. An even greater cloud with thunderous showers will emanate over the event if he doesn’t.
In just over three weeks, Fury could be facing another bump in the road on his path to becoming the undisputed champion.
Should Whyte fail to comply this month and the fight gets delayed, Fury would get left in the lurch. By that time, Oleksandr Usyk may no longer be on the table.
Usyk looks set to agree with Anthony Joshua for a rematch after advances by Fury to get the fight done now failed.
TYSON FURY UNDISPUTED
Warren told talkSPORT that the breakdown of an AJ step aside was firmly down to the former world champion.
“As far as Tyson was concerned, it dragged on. When Joshua asked for an extra $5million, he said, ‘Enough is enough,’ Warren told talkPORT Fight Night.
“He said, ‘I’m not interested. He’s too greedy,’ and that was enough. He’s a champion. Tyson’s not beholden to Anthony Joshua.
“He and Usyk wanted to get it on. Both of them wanted to get it on. But you had two people in the middle.
“One of them was suing the WBC [Dillian Whyte], and the other one [Joshua] was asking for more and more money.”
Some skeptics won’t believe Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte will occur until the first bell goes on the night.
The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.
Phil Jay – Editor of World Boxing News since 2010 with over one billion views. Follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.
