Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s preference is to face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk next for the undisputed championship and not fight Dillian Whyte right away.
Arum states that Whyte can “get in line” and wait for Fury to collect all four belts by beating Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) and then Anthony Joshua. Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) would get his turn after the smoke clears from those fights.
Arum says he wants Joshua to step aside and let Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) be the one that faces Usyk for the undisputed championship.
The Top Rank boss feels that Joshua CAN’T beat Usyk after losing to him last September, so he’d rather have AJ sit on the sidelines and let Fury do the hard work of facing Usyk.
On Tuesday, the World Boxing Council chose not to order the Fury vs. Whyte fight. The reason for that is Whyte has an arbitration proceeding against the WBC, and they’re not going to order the Fury-Whyte fight while that case is still going on.
Whyte and his promoter Eddie Hearn had expected the WBC to order the fight with Fury this week, but they got a big surprise when they failed to.
“Whyte’s people had brought an arbitration proceeding against the WBC. The WBC said they would not grant Whyte a mandatory position while the arbitration is pending.
“That was appropriate. Fury may end up fighting Whyte, we’ll see.”But it won’t be with the requirement of the WBC,” said Arum.
When Arum mentions it won’t be with the “requirement of the WBC,” he’s likely talking about the purse split that Whyte would be entitled to.
“The alternative is that if Joshua decides not to exercise his rematch against Usyk and decides to step aside, the fight we would like to make is between Usyk and Fury,” Arum said..”That is a fight to unify the titles once and for all.
“Whyte can stand in line and fight the winner ultimately. That’s what Tyson would like. And I represent Tyson. That is his preference,” said Arum.
We’re going to see how this plays out soon. If Whyte wins his arbitration case, the WBC will likely order Fury to fight him. If Arum isn’t happy with the arbitration ruling, we could see Fury vacate his WBC title.
With Fury’s talent, he’ll be able to win the other belts, so it’s not s big deal for him to vacate his WBC.
Obviously, Eddie Hearn and Whyte want the Fury fight, but now is not a good time for that fight. Fury has bigger fish to fry against Usyk, and he’s not going to want to waste his time by fighting Whyte.
If Fury vacates, Whyte can always go after the belts, but it still help his popularity.