Comments Thread For: Arum Slams Whyte's Demands For Fury Fight: Now Considering Ruiz, Helenius As Opponents

[Rodtang]

According to Sky, his PPVs would usually break even at best. Whyte is a network free agent. Both he and AJ can fight anywhere, neither was part of Hearn's DAZN deal. In one of those video interviews, Adam Smith said Sky passed on both of Whyte's last two fights. I forget what year, but I remember when DAZN sent Whyte a really low offer for the Chisora rematch (reportedly 30K), so Whyte undermined Hearn and took it to Showtime.

All Whytes fights have been on Sky. Except the last 2 which was because of Covid and they were on Dazn. Whyte does well enough on his PPVS. Hearn knows this. That's why they're waiting for the chance to go to purse bid. Whyte is by far the largest payday out there for Fury, after Joshua. Arum knows this. He just doesn't want to lose control of the fight as he did with Teofimo's last fight. Arum is just angling to try and get them to panic and get it on Arums terms. Hearn and Arum don't scare that easily. They know how to play the game. And people can say what they want about Whyte, wether he deserves this or that or whatever. But Whyte is an intelligent guy. He knows the buisness side of things. He manages fighters himself now. So he knows exactly what he's doing here. He knows exactly what he's worth and he's not afraid to dig his heels in to get it.

[Scopedog]

As always I rolled my eyes at "it would be his biggest purse to date", the classic greaseball excuse for not paying the other guy a fair split of the pie. That said I'm not really sure Whyte's worth more than 30% or so, Fury just had back to back fights against Deontay Wilder where he won by stoppage and wowed the audience both times, Whyte had back to back fights against a Povetkin on the brink of retirement and got starched one time and managed to look sloppy the other time even though he was fighting a covid-wracked corpse of a man. He does have a solid body of work overall and the right attributes to at least believe the fight might be competitive but let's face it, nobody except Usyk really feels like they've got the right to really challenge Fury for the division's throne right now and Usyk's tied up - anyone else who gets a shot at him in the interim is just getting lucky. I do hope that Whyte doesn't talk his way out of it because as a spectator I do think he's the best opponent available right now.

I think both Ruiz and Helenius are second rate substitutes. Helenius would get rolled over, Fury's got him well beat in every area. That fight doesn't last more than two or three rounds, it's an ugly mismatch. Helenius is the kind of guy they put up as a litmus test for prospects at this point, not as a legit challenge for the lineal champion. Ruiz is slightly less of a prohibitive underdog but I think the fight will actually be worse, I see there being more clinching than actual punching if him and Fury fight. I guess there's some value in the sense that Ruiz beat Joshua but it's not really like Fury has anything to prove in regards to whether he or Joshua is better right now, unless Joshua beats Usyk in the rematch that argument is well and truly settled.

[Blackstarr]

Let’s face it, there’s no way Ruiz is facing Fury in a non-title fight. Like it or not, fighters care about belts and also, Ruiz will ask for near enough the same money as Whyte to travel to the UK for a very high risk fight with no belt. $10m is the sort of money Hearn was offering for AJ’s US debut and unified belts before Ruiz stepped up.

Arum is just using Ruiz’s name to gain credibility, whereas in reality they’ll pick a Helenius or some unknown euro HW. No well-known HW is stepping up to Fury for the quoted money on offer with no WBC belt on the line.

[DaNeutral.]

This fight is BIG in the UK. 10 Millions is a realistic amount to get in a huge PPV event. Whyte is already a PPV guy making good money on his own. Add a fellow Brit, slayer of Wilder and an unbeaten world champion this is HUGE.

Alas, crispy cvnt Bob Arum will demand this to happen in America, Fury wants to fight in America, this fight is not big let alone huge in America. It makes NO SENSE to have it in America. But Bob don't care about that.

Whyte wants compensating due to money he could expect to see if this thing was held where and when it should be held.

But let's face facts. Bob, Tyson and fish eyes just don't want that fight and are just going to go the whole negative route just like they did with the Joshua v Fury fight when the inevitable end result is the fight doesn't happen.

[Bronx2245]

No matter. It's legacy for those guys. Especially Joshua. He doesn't need the money now. Sure he'll still try to maximize his earning potential, but he'll not be happy if he cant complete undusputed. That's his dream. I'm not saying its right or wrong. It's just how it is. Usyk I believe is similar. Undisputed in 2 weight classes. That's legacy. And he'll make plenty after that and he knows it. Why do you think he took a rematch with Joshua he didn't need to. He has supreme confidence in his abilities and knows he beats him. And he knows he beats Fury too. And if Fury doesn't fight him Usyk is the star of the generation and not Fury. So Fury will fight him. That's just their mindset. There are some genuine competitors out there, it's not just all about pounds or dollars.

Fury is "The Greatest Show on Earth!" Muhammad Ali and P.T. Barnum all rolled into one! He doesn't need a belt. He's known world-wide! I believe Arum when he says they would drop the belt rather than pay Whyte 40%, and I believe Joshua and Usyk would rather fight Fury without a belt, than fight fight Whyte with the WBC title.

[W1LL]

Let's see: Dillian Whyte, 6 fights in a row on Sky Sports Box Office, but his biggest payday so far is a little over £200,000. Something doesn't quite add up. Were Matchroom and/or Sky Sports fudging the numbers? And now the bumnuts are claiming that £5,000,000 is short-changing Whyte? A 25-times increase on his biggest payday? Get real, phaggots.

Andy Ruiz, a former Unified Heavyweight champion. 105-5 as an Amateur. Arguably should be a two-time champ. When in shape beat Anthony Joshua like a ginger-haired stepson. And Tyson has struggled when fighting much shorter opponents. Ruiz has a low centre-of-gravity, fights really short, has good movement in and out of range, throws unorthodox punches against big men... a very, very interesting fight for Tyson Fury. And a better legacy fight than Dillian Shyte!

[The Ninth Layer]

Ring magazine is more meaningless than your opinion is it? Your sense of self-importance while posting anonymously is laughable.

And what about all the other leading publications/organisations that rank Whyte higher, are they all meaningless compared to your highly esteemed opinion too?

Ten years from now nobody's going to remember who the Ring magazine had ranked as the fifth best heavyweight in December 2021 and who they had ranked as seventh best. They'll remember who knocked out an undefeated boxing gold medalist to take the heavyweight championship though!

Andy Ruiz will get to spend the rest of his life hearing people call him "champ." He accomplished the greatest and toughest feat in the sport of boxing: a heavyweight championship win. If he never fights again he'll still be enshrined in boxing history. You may feel he was a fluke champion for one fight only but so was Buster Douglas and even thirty years later every boxing fan knows who Buster Douglas was: the heavyweight champion of the world. Just like Andy.

Ruiz and Whyte are both good wins for Fury's career. but if he fought and beat them back-to-back, there's no question which guy fans ten years from now would see as the better win. Do you really think it'll be the guy whose greatest accomplishment at the time was taking fifth place in a magazine list?

[The Ninth Layer]

Let’s face it, there’s no way Ruiz is facing Fury in a non-title fight. Like it or not, fighters care about belts and also, Ruiz will ask for near enough the same money as Whyte to travel to the UK for a very high risk fight with no belt. $10m is the sort of money Hearn was offering for AJ’s US debut and unified belts before Ruiz stepped up.

Arum is just using Ruiz’s name to gain credibility, whereas in reality they’ll pick a Helenius or some unknown euro HW. No well-known HW is stepping up to Fury for the quoted money on offer with no WBC belt on the line.

Why would Andy Ruiz fly to the UK to fight Fury? They'd do it in Vegas.

[Blackstarr]

Ten years from now nobody's going to remember who the Ring magazine had ranked as the fifth best heavyweight in December 2021 and who they had ranked as seventh best. They'll remember who knocked out an undefeated boxing gold medalist to take the heavyweight championship though!

Andy Ruiz will get to spend the rest of his life hearing people call him "champ." He accomplished the greatest and toughest feat in the sport of boxing: a heavyweight championship win. If he never fights again he'll still be enshrined in boxing history. You may feel he was a fluke champion for one fight only but so was Buster Douglas and even thirty years later every boxing fan knows who Buster Douglas was: the heavyweight champion of the world. Just like Andy.

Ruiz and Whyte are both good wins for Fury's career. but if he fought and beat them back-to-back, there's no question which guy fans ten years from now would see as the better win. Do you really think it'll be the guy whose greatest accomplishment at the time was taking fifth place in a magazine list?

I respectfully disagree. Ruiz might end up being seen as the more famous fighter, but not the better - there’s a clear difference and you’re confusing the two. Yes Buster Douglas achieved worldwide fame and lasting recognition, but does anyone rank him amongst Holyfield’s best wins or anywhere close? Holyfield has beaten far better fighters with less name recognition who many wouldn’t know.

Talking “ten years from now” is absolutely pointless anyway..neither of their careers are close to being over and so much can change. What makes sense is talking the here and now, and right now Whyte is ranked above Ruiz in every boxing publication.

[Blackstarr]

Why would Andy Ruiz fly to the UK to fight Fury? They'd do it in Vegas.

That would defeat the whole purpose of Fury having a UK homecoming. My point remains that Ruiz is not going to fight Fury for no belt on the line and the money Arun is offering, which doesn’t compensate for the risk. Furthermore, the fight wouldn’t make sense in the UK as you’ve correctly pointed out, which adds to the list of reasons I don’t see this fight happening.