Tyson Fury spent Friday announcing the launch of his new energy drink Furocity.

The WBC heavyweight champion held a luncheon in London, and throughout the day, also met with co-promoters Frank Warren and Bob Arum as the trio moved closer to staging the fight against Dillian Whyte set for April 23, potentially at Wembley Stadium.

Whyte has until Feb. 21 to sign on for the fight. Idle time has left Fury still furious about the turn of events that ultimately led to Warren and Arum allocating $41,025,000 to the purse bid. Fury is set to earn an 80% cut from the sum.

Before the fight went to a bid, more millions were being pushed into a pot in order for Anthony Joshua to step aside from his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, and for Whyte to forego a fight with Fury, so that Fury would fight the WBO, WBA, IBF, and IBO champion Usyk for undisputed heavyweight champion status. 

Fury (30-0-1, 22 KOs) explained how it all unfolded. 

“[Joshua] agreed to take $15 million to step aside from a rematch with Usyk,” said Fury, per TalkSport. “Then he demanded another $5 million because, greedy coward that he is, he knows he can’t beat Usyk so he wouldn’t be getting the biggest bucks even if he plucked up the courage to fight me.

“Basically Joshua’s a busted flush. There’s still no sign of him taking on Usyk again. He doesn’t want the fight because he gets knocked out a second time and he’s finished. And that’s the big fight with me in the dustbin, even though the world knows I’ll fight anyone.”

Fury is coming off a resounding October knockout victory against archrival Deontay Wilder. The trilogy matchup was widely considered the 2021 fight of the year. At the time, it was the 33-year-old Fury’s first fight in 20 months. 

Fury wants to be more active this year and fight three times in 2022, and it all starts with Whyte once “The Body Snatcher” agrees to the terms of the fight. 

“I’ve never hated Dillian, my old sparring partner, but he would be an idiot as well as a coward if he pulls out of this fight,” said Fury. “A coward because he’s been waiting 1,200 days for a world title shot he says he’s always wanted at any price. At $8 million, this is the biggest pay day of his life by a fortune. I’m making him for life. Plus if he were to surprise everyone by actually winning he would get another $4 million lottery bonus. He’s getting eight times more than I got to beat Wladimir Klitschko. What’s the matter with him?”

In sizing up a victory over Whyte, Fury would rank him as sixth in terms of his top wins.

"It'd probably be Deontay Wilder [as my biggest win], then Wladimir Klitschko, then Derek Chisora, then Otto Wallin, then Steve Cunningham, and then [Whyte]," Fury said to Queensberry TV.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.