Speaking about Dillian Whyte, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says he’s not going to be dictated to by any of the sanctioning bodies by being pushed into fighting any of their mandatory challengers.
Whyte is the WBC mandatory, and he and his promoter Eddie Hearn are insisting that he get a promised title shot against WBC champ Fury by the end of February 2021.
Fury says he has no plans of fighting Whyte in early next year. What Fury wants is to face Deontay Wilder at the of this year, and then face IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua twice in 2021.
Although Fury isn’t saying directly that he’ll vacate his WBC title if they Whyte and the sanctioning body press the issue to face Whyte, it looks like he’ll give up the strap. Fury says Whyte brings nothing to the table in terms of money, and he wants to focus on heavyweights that CAN sell like Joshua and Wilder.
Whyte isn’t popular in the U.S, Fury points out, and therefore, he’s not worth much as an opponent for him. Fury states that he will eventually fight Whyte, but only after he faces Wilder and Joshua.
Fury: Whyte is just looking for a payday
“What does a Franchise champion mean?” said Fury to Lockdown Lowdown. “I’m about fighting the biggest fights out there, and Wilder, Joshua, Joshua, are the biggest fights out there. Dillian Whyte is looking for a payday against me. Pulev is looking for a payday.
“All these challengers and mandatory challengers, they’re not sellable, especially in America. I’m looking to do big colossal fights. I don’t know how many fights I have left, but whatever are the biggest possible fights in that time, it’s who will get the fights.
“It won’t be a belt or an organization that will dictate to Tyson Fury because nobody has ever dictated to the champ about who I’m going to fight and who I’m not going to fight. These low profile fighters don’t mean anything to me. I’m after the biggest, the best fights available,” said Fury.
Whyte has been making good money in his Sky Box Office fights against the likes of Dereck Chisora, Oscar Rivas, and Joseph Parker. But the money that Whyte has been getting for those fights is nothing compared to what he’ll get in fighting for a world title against Fury, which is why he’s pushing so hard for the WBC to force the issue.
Fury: Belts don’t matter
“I’m proud to be WBC champion, but at the end of the day, I’m the lineal champion of the world, and that trumps everything,” Fury said. “Nothing matters but the lineal championship to me. The belts are just pieces of leather with fancy metal stuff on them. They don’t mean a lot.
“They mean a lot to an unknown champion that nobody knows. They can say, ‘I’m a world champion. But when you’ve been ruling the game as long as I have and you’ve beaten all the top challengers and all the top men that you weren’t supposed to beat, you can have a belt that says dog s*** on it.
“You’re still the champ. I stole his [Whyte] mandatory position because I’m saleable, undefeated, and I’m the lineal champion. People know they can make a ton of money on me, but Dillian Whyte, he got knocked out by AJ already. There’s not much money to be made there.
“At the end of the day, it’s prize-fighting. It’s about making money. These promoters want to make as much money as possible, putting on the biggest fights possible. So Dillian Whyte vs. Joe Bloggs Jr. isn’t a big fight,” said Fury.
Tyson has the right idea in not focusing on the titles, which have lost all meaning at this point. Each division is watered down with belts, and there are too many champions that don’t deserve to be. Fury’s lineal title is all he needs.
Fury: I’m fighting Deontay and then Joshua twice
“The answer to Dillian Whyte is ‘wait in the queue,” said Tyson Fury. “When you’re time comes, it’ll come, and that’s it. And I’m not really interested in you at all. I’m interested in the biggest fights possible. I’ve got house payments. I want a trillion-dollar paycheck. I don’t have time for Dillian Whyte, that’s for sure.
“I’m contracted, and I couldn’t fight Dillian Whyte today anyway because I’ve got a Deontay Wilder fight, and then I want to become the undisputed champion. I want to fight Anthony Joshua after that, and then I want to beat him again.
“‘ll fight him twice. And then whoever’s next. Maybe it’ll be Dillian Whyte then. But if Dillian Whyte is going to call me a few names on social media or during an interview, ‘Oh, I’m going to get a good boil. Let me fight Dillian Whyte. I’m going to get a $100 million paycheck to prove I’m not scared of Dillian Whyte,'” said Fury.
The earliest year that Whyte can get a fight against Fury is in 2022, and that’s still not a given. If Fury has bigger fights available against the winner of the Joyce vs. Dubois match, then that would be the direction to go in.
Whyte needs to start looking impressive and win some of his contests without controversy. His fights with Oscar Rivas, Chisora, and Joseph Parker had elements of controversy surrounding them due to the judging and, more particularly, the quality of the officiating.
Whyte will be put in his place in time – Fury
“He’s in for a long wait. I fear no man,” said Fury of Whyte. “When the time does come, I’ll put him in his place, but until then, I think he has plenty more to worry about with Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce, and Povetkin that he’s fighting next and whoever else.
“There’s Wilder next, Joshua, Dubois, Joe Joyce, there’s Michael Hunter, Oleksandr Usyk. There’s even Dereck Chisora in that mix. If Dillian Whyte is fighting for a title, then so should Delboy because they had a great fight between them that was 50-50. There’s plenty of contenders out there,” said Fury.
If Fury loses his WBC title by vacating or having it stripped from him, then there would be no point in fighting Whyte. The only reason why a fight between those two would make sense is if Fury wanted to recapture his WBC belt.
There are arguably better heavyweights in the division than Whyte. Joyce, Dubois, and Usyk are better fighters than Whyte. Even Dereck Chisora is better.
Well, if Fury has Whyte wait long enough, he might get beaten along the way by one of the contenders. Whyte is supposed to be fighting Alexander Povetkin next, and that’s not a sure thing for him.
