Fury-Whyte Deadline: Will Whyte Sign The Contract Today?

By James Slater - 02/19/2022 - Comments

As fans are probably aware, the contract deadline for the Tyson Fury Vs. Dillian Whyte fight ends today – February 19th. Whyte must put pen to paper today or else. Or else what? We don’t know. It seems crazy to most everyone that there is even a chance Whyte will not sign on for the fight, his first world title shot, this after having been made to wait so long for his big opportunity, but there may be some things going on behind the scenes that we are not privy to.

As he has been waiting for his next challenger to sign the contract, WBC heavyweight king Tyson Fury has put out a number of short videos in which he sends Whyte a message the way only he can send anyone a message. Having dubbed Whyte, ‘White Feathers,’ Fury has hurled insult after insult at his fellow Brit. Today, deadline day, Fury put out another short video.

Fury claims he has been told Whyte is demanding extra money to turn up at the press conferences that will precede the fight (if there is one).

“I just heard that little sausage Dillian Whyte wants paying to turn up at a press conference,” Fury said, clearly annoyed. “You little silly fat sausage, you’re getting that [smacks his fist into his hand], you coward.”

Fury seems genuinely angry over the way Whyte has uncharacteristically kept totally silent in the run up to the fight (pencilled in for April 23). With Whyte not playing ball in the battle of words, Fury has had to make do with insulting Whyte via the video messages. So here we are, with just hours to go before the contact deadline expires. Will Whyte sign or will he not?

If Whyte does sign, it will be interesting when these two get together, at either a presser, or during a face-to-face, The Gloves Are Off type affair, or at the weigh-in. Fury is sure to try to get in Whyte’s face and it will be fascinating to see how Whyte responds. Is Whyte winning the mind games by staying silent the way he has? Maybe. None of this will mean anything if Whyte fails to sign on the dotted line, however.

An odd run up to a big heavyweight title fight, let’s put it that way.