Dillian Whyte wants Tyson Fury to make his first WBC heavyweight title defense against him if Deontay Wilder’s recovery from biceps surgery further delays their third fight.
England’s Fury is tentatively scheduled to battle Wilder on October 3 at an undetermined venue. Wilder recently revealed that he had surgery to repair a torn left biceps, an injury he suffered during his seventh-round, technical-knockout defeat to Fury on February 22 in Las Vegas.
Whyte has long been the WBC’s number one heavyweight contender, however, and wants his title shot.
According to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) only became that sanctioning organization’s mandatory challenger when the British contender defeated Colombia’s Oscar Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder July 20 at O2 Arena in London. Whyte will get his title shot in 2021, but the initial deadline of February 21 likely will be pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Sulaiman.
That title shot is dependent, of course, on Whyte defeating former WBA champ Alexander Povetkin on July 4 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. If he beats Povetkin, Whyte would love to fight Fury next.
“Why don’t we just get it on?,” Whyte said in an interview with Sky Sports on Monday. “[Fury] just talks rubbish. I don’t want to talk sh*t about this, that or whatever. All I want to do is fight these guys. Let’s just have the fight. Like he said to Deontay Wilder, ‘It’s only a fight. You win some, you lose some.’ It’s just a fight. Why wouldn’t he want to fight me instead of waiting for an injured Wilder to recover, as he may not even be ready by October due to the severity of his injury?”
Wilder stated during a recent episode of “The PBC Podcast” that he’ll be able to begin boxing training by “the middle to end of May.” Assuming he doesn’t suffer any setbacks, that should allow Wilder to be ready to fight Fury again October 3.
It’s also possible that Wilder-Fury III will be delayed again due to the economic impact and other issues caused by COVID-19. They were supposed to fight July 18 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but their third fight was pushed back to October 3 once the coronavirus crisis began.
Regardless, Whyte isn’t confident Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) will fight him even if he beats Alabama’s Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) in their third meeting.
“No, you can never trust what Tyson Fury says – never,” Whyte said. “Tyson Fury says a lot of things. He said he would fight me [last year] if the WBC put the Diamond Belt on the line, and then he couldn’t run away fast enough when they agreed.
“If [the Fury fight] comes next, I’m not going to be, ‘Oh ,yeah!’ I’ve been waiting for a long time. Everyone talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk. All they’re doing is conning the public and depriving them of good fights. Why don’t boxers fight each other? I will fight anyone, and I don’t care if I lose.”
London’s Whyte and Russia’s Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) are set to fight for the WBC’s interim heavyweight title July 4. Their fight first was scheduled for this Saturday night in Manchester, but it was postponed last month until July 4.
Even though he’ll fight for the WBC’s interim title, the 32-year-old Whyte is bothered by Sulaiman’s contention that Whyte hasn’t been its “mandatory” challenger as long as Whyte and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, have claimed.
“It’s embarrassing for the WBC to say that,” Whyte said. “Why hasn’t the WBC champion fought me yet? And to say I’ve only been mandatory for over 280 days since I beat Oscar Rivas – but by the time my shot comes around in February 2021, I will have been the number-one ranked contender for over 1,200 days. That will be the longest wait in the history of boxing. It’s frustrating and disgraceful.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.