Arum: Whyte Wants More Money To Promote Fury Fight, He's Trying To Hold Us Up!
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who co-promotes WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, has accused mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte of demanding more money in order to promote the bout with Fury.
A few weeks ago, Fury's other co-promoter, Frank Warren, dropped a record bid of $41 million to secure the promotional rights to the fight with Whyte.
As both sides entered that WBC purse bid, there was an 80-20 split in favor of Fury.
Even at 20%, Whyte is going to receive by far the biggest payday of his entire career.
However, Arum indicates that Whyte - who remains unusually quiet since the WBC's purse bid - is requesting more money to promote the event.
"He's trying to get more money. Simple as that. He's trying to hold us up. One thing when you win a purse bid, it says that the fighters will help in ways to promote. Well that's sort of ambiguous. And most fighters, because they're professional they will promote," Arum told the Queensberry Promotions YouTube channel.
"Now he's saying, 'I want extra money to promote, because you're stuck paying me what the purse bids said which is $7.3 million and I want some more money from you to go out there and promote'.
"And our position is, well we're not going to give it to you. Now, if the fight does enormously well, yeah we'll give you a taste at the backend where everybody's made money. But we're not going to be put in a position where you're threatening us, to not participate in the promotion. If he doesn't, he's a damn fool.
"Because again, there's always tomorrow and even if he loses the fight, which he figures to do, by participating in the promotion he builds his own image and his own career. And secondly and even more important, he really needs the exposure from this big fight and his threat is, that he's not going to avail himself to that exposure."
Whyte has until February 21, pursuant to the WBC's order, to sign the bout agreement.
Fury has already signed on for the fight.
The current target date is April 23, with Wembley Stadium as the frontrunner venue.
