Eddie Hearn, promoter for heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte, has explained that he doesn't want the WBC to make Tyson Fury a 'franchise' champion.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Whyte had taken legal action against the WBC - to enforce the date of his mandatory title shot.
The WBC issued an order last year, directing Whyte to receive a mandatory shot at the world title by February 2021.
Fury is currently the WBC's full champion at the weight.
He is scheduled to face Deontay Wilder in a contracted rematch before the year is over.
Fury and his co-promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, have expressed very little interest in facing Whyte.
They are far more interested in making a two-fight deal, in 2021, for a showdown with unified champion Anthony Joshua.
Arum plans to speak with the WBC, to delay or eliminate Fury's mandatory obligation - in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which stopped the entire sport for several months.
Whyte and Hearn are fighting to keep the WBC's mandatory deadline in place.
However, there is nothing to stop the WBC from making Fury a 'franchise' champion - which in turn would automatically upgrade Whyte, who holds the interim-title, to full champion.
A franchise champion does not have any mandatory obligations and is not capable of losing his 'franchise' status - even in defeat.
"We know that the obvious move here is to make Tyson Fury the 'franchise' champion. I've discussed it with Dillian, it's pretty obvious. And I've seen this with Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko. Devin Haney wanted to fight Vasiliy Lomachenko. So we stayed with the WBC, we moved up their governing body, we fought in a final eliminator. He fought Zaur Abdullaev, which was also for the interim-championship because Lomachenko was going to have an undisputed fight. Bang, we're mandatory to Vasiliy Lomachenko," Hearn explained to IFL TV.
"All of a sudden, Top Rank requests that Vasiliy Lomachenko gets made franchise champion and the WBC makes Lomachenko the franchise champion - meaning that you cannot get near him, you cannot touch him, he doesn't have to make a mandatory, and if he loses he is still the WBC franchise champion. What is the point of searching for greatness if you are never allowed to get there when you deserve it?
"In that instance, we've spent all the money pushing Devin Haney up the WBC rankings... having sanctioned events, international titles, silver titles, final eliminators, interim-titles - only to be told that you can't fight the champion. And then you become world champion. It is an honor to become WBC champion. And Devin Haney is WBC world lightweight champion. But you don't get the respect, you get the criticism. People say 'oh, well it's an email belt.' It's not Devin Haney's fault. He was desperate to fight the WBC world champion, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and then was told he couldn't do it.
"Dillian Whyte has spent years going up the WBC rankings... paying for international titles, silver titles, interim-titles, eliminators, final eliminators - to make sure that he can get the shot at the WBC world champion, get his payday, get his chance at legacy and achieve his dream. And then, just as he's there, a few months away, you say 'Tyson Fury, you are now franchise champion and Dillian Whyte, sorry mate you can't get him, but great news you are the new WBC heavyweight champion of the world.' And then everyone says 'well you're not the real heavyweight champion of the world.'
"I know the game, I know how it's going to play out. And what we are saying is that we don't want to become WBC heavyweight world champion without fighting the champion. I don't want Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury as franchise champion, because then again it starts 'oh, well is that still (an) undisputed (fight)?'