With less than a month to go until the fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte, there is, in the opinion of Whyte’s lawyer, Jeffrey Benz, some doubt the fight will actually go ahead as planned. Speaking this morning with Talk Sport, Benz said he has not spoken with Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, for “over a month.”
Recently, Eddie Hearn spoke about how there are still “loads of issues to be resolved,” and Benz listed some of these issues today. According to Benz, Whyte and his team still do not know the size of the ring they will be fighting in at Wembley, and he also spoke of how no tickets have been issued to Whyte’s team, his entourage, or even to his mother. These issues, Benz says, are not trivial matters. Also according to Benz “everything we have asked for is normal, standard, commercial; it’s not outlandish or outrageous.”
Fans are looking forward to this fight yet it has been odd how Whyte did not attend the official press conference, instead reaming in complete silence, not assisting in the promotion of the fight at all. Benz says the behavior of Fury and his team has been at fault.
“We haven’t spoken to Frank [Warren] or George [Warren] for a month,” Benz explained. “I had a total of a three-minute conversation with Frank, he called me. Everything we’ve asked for is normal, standard, commercial; it’s not outlandish or outrageous. (Their behavior) is like nothing I’ve ever seen. We don’t have a single ticket for Dillian, for his entourage, his mum or anybody else. Contrary to what Frank said, we didn’t ask for complimentary tickets equal to the number of ringside tickets; we asked for 25 ringside seats. It’s normal, it’s what we give to Dillian’s opponents. We have been given nothing. We’ve asked for credentials for his security team and video team. They’ve given us the bare minimum. It’s been stupid games, it was like pulling tooth and nail. We spent weeks asking them to tell us the size of the ring. [They’re] trying to stack the deck in Fury’s favor.”
No wonder Hearn said recently he is “glad he is not involved” in the promotion of this fight. It sure sounds like a bunch of stuff is going on behind the scenes. If all Benz’ claims are true, is this a sign Fury is not looking at an easy fight with Whyte, instead just the opposite?
It would of course be a complete mess if Whyte did pull out before April 23, yet when we listen to his lawyer this cannot be ruled out. “You just don’t know [if the fight will go ahead],” Benz told Talk Sport today.
So how worried should we be? Will it all work itself out in the end? We hope so. Some people are anticipating a classic battle between Fury and Whyte, and around 100,000 fans will likely be in attendance on the night. Come on guys, from both sides, be reasonable and get the fight on without a hitch. May the best man win!