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Home » Dillian Whyte – a bottle job, valid protest or mind games for Tyson Fury?

Dillian Whyte – a bottle job, valid protest or mind games for Tyson Fury?

Dillian Whyte got a rollicking from Frank Warren for his no-show at Wembley. However, WBN looks into why the Briton failed to show for the Tyson Fury press conference.

‘The Bodysnatcher’ has rebuffed the fight so far, even after winning $7.4 million from the most expensive purse bid of all time.

Whyte almost negated the contract when leaving it to the last six hours and doesn’t seem to want to be any part of the event other than fight week.

But is there a valid reason why the WBC interim champion feels like this, or is it merely a bottle job or mind games?

Well, for starters, Whyte has arbitration ongoing against the World Boxing Council over the purse split for the fight. The WBC and Fury offered twenty percent of the pot when the standard is 45% for a mandatory challenger.

This scenario is where the problems began. If successful, as Deontay Wilder was when he went up against Fury in the same process, Whyte stands to earn another $8 million-plus for his trouble.

Many would say this is a worthy measure that can only be a plus for Whyte. If he loses arbitration, he still gets the same purse he has now.

That’s not his only gripe, though. Whyte has no claims to any other revenue from the Pay Per View to the gate receipts hence why he didn’t want to promote the opening of the public sales.

Why should he bother promoting something he’s getting nothing from until April 23rd? – It’s certainly a valid question if unprofessional and breaking the contract.

Whyte only gets paid to fight against Fury. That seems to be what he’s arguing here.

On the other hand, attempting to get under Fury’s skin and stop the cycle of ‘The Gypsy King’ beating opponents before the first bell also comes into play.

There’s no history of Whyte being intimidated by anyone. But Fury does have the capability of breaking anyone down mentally.

It remains a delicate situation, though, as Top Rank promoter Bob Arum outlined his feelings on the matter.

“Salute to Tyson Fury, who can carry a press conference, even without his opponent showing up. Shame on Dillian Whyte for disrespecting the sport,” said Arum.

Top Rank’s Brad Jacobs was a little more diplomatic in his assessment of Whyte despite agreeing with Arum.

“Whyte is undoubtedly a credible threat and is one of the top available contenders. It is unprofessional that he is not here today, but we will get past that and move on.

“Everyone is second best to Tyson, in the ring, in personality, in everything.”

Tyson Fury Dillian Whyte poster

DILLIAN WHYTE MESSAGE

In addressing the media, Fury was more non-plussed than angry with Whyte. He said:

“My personal message to Dillian Whyte today is this: I will win this fight for England and St. George on St. George’s Day. There we go.”

Fury added: “He should be here promoting the fight. That’s my opinion.

“I think it’s tough luck for him and his family and his legacy going forward.”

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.