WBC heavyweight mandatory Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte says he’s expecting to be ducked by champion Tyson Fury after he defeats Alexander Povetkin this Saturday night on August 22.
Dillian claims that Fury’s promoter tried to have him made WBC ‘Franchise champion’ recently so that he could avoid facing him. It’s a move that makes sense for Team Fury, as there’s risk involved in having him fight Whyte, who needs that?
Fury and his management want what the boxing world is calling for, and that’s a match between him and Anthony Joshua. Whyte isn’t famous in the States, and there’s less interest worldwide in a bout against him right now.
Whyte says Fury doesn’t care about fans
That could change in the future if Whyte gets a few more wins under his belt against upper-level guys, but right now, he’s small potatoes in comparison to Joshua.
Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) holds the interim WBC title, and he could be elevated to full champion if Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) chooses not to defend against him by February 2021.
Whyte, 32, says Fury doesn’t care about what his boxing fans want, and he’s just looking to get a payday against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua in 2021.
Not surprisingly, Fury’s management wants the Joshua mega-clash after he faces Wilder in December.
That fight is the one that Team Fury wants, and they’ll likely have no qualms about sacrificing the WBC title if the sanctioning body attempts to force him to defend against Whyte early next year.
Under that circumstance, Whyte will be elevated to WBC heavyweight champion if Fury refuses to face him. Also, Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn is saying that it’ll be him that faces Joshua in a unification match next year; not Fury would be beltless and would be a voluntary challenger.
“Do you think Tyson Fury cares? Tyson Fury doesn’t care. He used to say he was the lineal heavyweight champion, he let the public think he is, but he does what he wants to.
Tyson Fury doesn’t care,” complained Whyte to Sky Sports News. ‘The WBC have obviously come forward and said you have to fight me now, so let’s see what he’s going to do.”
Fury might have a difficult time getting motivated for a match against Whyte, knowing that the money and fan interest will be considerably less than a contest against Joshua.
Whyte is getting ahead of himself right now, as he has business to take care of this Saturday night against former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Dillian must beat the 40-year-old Povetkin for him to retain his interim WBC heavyweight title and his mandatory spot to get the title shot against WBC champion Fury. The mandatory position is Whyte’s golden ticket to get a massive payday against Fury or maybe not.
The WBC could strip Fury
If Fury vacates his WBC title or simply tells Whyte to get lost, which is likely to be the case, the World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman is poised to strip the 6’9″ ‘Gypsy King’ Fury of his title.
Whyte would then be elevated to the full WBC champion by the sanctioning body, and that would Hearn and Joshua in the position where they would need to decide whether to face Dillian or go in the direction of the money fight against Fury.
“He’s tried everything to avoid me,” Whyte continued about Fury. “He’s so scared about the prospect of fighting me that his promoter begged the WBC to elevate him to ‘Franchise’ champion to keep him out of my clutches.
“Mauricio has said publicly that that ain’t happening,” said Whyte.
Fury believes that he can beat Whyte, and he’s not afraid of fighting him. It’s more of a business situation for Fury, as it would be for any ordinary fan. If you can make more money going in one direction than another, it makes sense to pursue the bigger payday. In this case, it would be Fury facing Joshua rather than Whyte.
Where things get complicated is if Hearn persuades Joshua to face Whyte instead of Fury if he gives up the WBC title. It would be a self-defeating move on Hearn’s part in having Joshua take the smaller money fight against Whyte, but it would help Matchroom Boxing.
It gives them an in-house fight between Joshua and Whyte, who they promote. It works well for Hearn and Matchroom, but to a lesser extent for Joshua. It’s risky for Joshua to face Whyte, and he could be sorry for it if he makes that decision. If this writer were in the position that Joshua is in now, I would tell Hearn that I’m not interested in fighting Whyte.
I would want Fury. Hearn would have to deal with that, and let Whyte defend the WBC title against someone like Luis Ortiz, who should have fought years ago after the sanctioning body ordered the two to fight.
