Dillian Whyte does not expect to get a mandatory crack at WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Whyte stakes his mandatory position against former WBA champion Alexander Povetkin on Saturday night, at Matchroom's Fight Camp in Brentwood.
Should Whyte win, he would fall directly in line for the winner of the Fury vs. Deontay Wilder trilogy fight, which is targeted at the moment for December 19th.
Whyte is due his shot by February of 2021.
If Fury-Wilder 3 takes places in December, which appears unlikely at the moment, there is now way the winner can turn around and fight again in February. An agreement would have to be worked out for a late date, in March or April.
But Fury and his handlers have expressed very little interest in facing Whyte in 2021. They are far more interested in a full division unification fight with WBA, IBO, WBO, IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
"Do you think Tyson Fury cares? Tyson Fury don't care. He used to say he was the lineal heavyweight champion, he let the public think he is, but he does what he wants to. Tyson Fury doesn't care. He's a man that says one thing today and then says something else tomorrow. He doesn't give two hoots what the public thinks," Whyte said to Sky Sports.
"He said he was a fighting man. Before he won the belt, he said he was going to fight me. He just talks rubbish. He said he was going to do this to me, do that to me. 'When I beat Deontay Wilder, I'm going to give Dillian the first shot at the belt, because he deserves it, he's waited so long and he's worked so hard.' After he wins the fight, he talks about fighting Derek Chisora. He's a joker. The WBC have obviously come forward and said you have to fight me now, so let's see what he's going to do.
"He's tried everything to avoid me. Even without waiting for the outcome of my fight with Povetkin, he's so scared about the prospect of fighting me that his promoter begged the WBC to elevate him to 'Franchise' champion to keep him out of my clutches. Mauricio has said publicly that that ain't happening. All going well, he'll be all mine, but I fully expect him to run, run and run, just like that coward Wilder before him."
