Dillian Whyte’s deadline to sign the contract for his April 23rd fight against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is by the close of business this Monday, February 21st.
Thus far, Whyte has chosen not to sign on the dotted line for the Fury fight, and there’s a good chance that he won’t.
It was originally reported from Fury’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank that Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) had until Saturday, February 19th, but it’s reportedly this Monday instead.
Dan Rafael has confirmed that Monday is the deadline for WBC mandatory Whyte.
If he chooses not to sign, he’ll have missed his chance to challenge Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) for the April 23rd date and would need to get back in line to try and earn another mandatory.
Hearn’s backup options for Whyte
The Sun is reporting that Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn has two backup options that he’s offering for him to take rather than challenge Fury.
With Hearn having lost the purse bid to Frank Warren, he’s not promoting the Fury vs. Whyte fight. Instead of Hearn, it’s going to be Warren and Bob Arum that are promoting the fight.
Hearn’s fighter Whyte won’t be under his promotion for this fight due to him losing the purse bid.
A loss for Whyte to Fury, particularly a bad one, would hurt his popularity for his future fights on DAZN. Losing to Fury would damage Whyte’s brand, making him less useful for Hearn.
If Whyte accepts one of the options Hearn has for him, his next fight would be shown on the DAZN app rather than on Warren’s BT Sport.
Hearn’s back-up options are for the 34-year-old Whyte to fight Anthony Joshua in a rematch or a trilogy match with Dereck Chisora.
The money that Whyte would get facing Joshua or Chisora in his next fight would make up for the $7.3 million purse that he was expected to get to challenge Fury.
Although Whyte has a chance of getting an additional 10% with the $4 million bonus that goes to the winner of the Fury-Whyte fight on April 23, his chances of beating Fury are too low for it to be worth the gamble.
In theory, it sounds great that Whyte has a chance to get an extra $4 million should he win, but the reality is, he’s not likely to win. Indeed, Whyte is expected to lose and wind humiliated by Fury, who has a way of making his opponents look bad.
Joshua & Chisora = Whyte’s backup options
“Dillian Whyte has a big-money offer to remain one of Eddie Hearn’s star attractions if Tyson Fury fight falls through,” reports The Sun.
“Whyte’s long-time promotional partner Hearn has an attractive back-up plan on the table.
The Matchroom boss – who has his shows broadcast on streaming app DAZN – wants to keep one of his star attractions away from Warren and his BT Sport backers.
But only a guaranteed rematch with Anthony Joshua and perhaps a third clash with fans’ favorite Derek Chisora could make up for a WBC world title shot and £6million basic purse for challenging Fury.”
Hearn setting up a rematch between Joshua and Whyte of their 2015 would serve two purposes.
Not only would it save Whyte from facing Fury and getting his brand damaged by an embarrassing loss, but it also helps Joshua because he can swerve his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
It’s even more important for Hearn not to have Joshua fight Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) again because his popularity will take a massive hit if he loses to the Ukrainian a second time.
Joshua would stand a better chance of beating Whyte than he would Usyk, as he’s chinny, has power stamina, and isn’t the greatest boxer.
