Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn is going to bat for him in pushing for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury to defend against him next to satisfy his mandatory status.
Hearn says Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is overdue for his title shot at the mandatory challenger to Fury, and he views it as the best option for him while he waits on the outcome of the March rematch between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
Hearn is failing to mention that Whyte must beat Otto Wallin (22-1, 14 KOs) on October 30th for him to keep his mandatory spot with the WBC.
We still don’t know yet if Fury will elect to take the risky fight with Whyte in his next title defense because he’s got the chance to make a lot of money fighting the winner of the Joshua-Usyk 2 fight.
If Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) chooses to sit and wait on the outcome of the Joshua vs. Usyk rematch, you couldn’t blame him.
There’s a lot of money to be made for Fury fighting Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) or Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), and considerably less to face Whyte.
Hearn wants Fury to face Whyte next
“It’s long overdue,” said Hearn to DAZN Boxing Show about WBC mandatory Whyte being overdue for his mandated title shot against champion Fury. “Dillian Whyte against Tyson Fury, that’s a massive fight here [UK].
“The build-up might be as good as the fight. Dillian Whyte deserves his shot. A victory over Otto Wallin [on October 30th], no one can deny him that shot at a world heavyweight title.
“I had a nice debate with Andre Ward online. He said, ‘Why does he [Tyson Fury] need to fight Dillin Whyte?'” said Hearn.
“I said, ‘Who else is he [Fury] going to fight?’ [Ward said] ‘Just sit it out.’ ‘Sit it out? He’s had two fights in two years, Tyson Fury, and he hates inactivity. If he’s going to sit it out, AJ is going to fight Usyk in March or April, and then Usyk is going to fight Fury in September or October. It’s going to be three fights in three years. Let’s get a bit of momentum.'”
It’s not a good thing for Fury to sit and wait for a year before fighting the winner of the Joshua vs. Usyk rematch, but he can always make a tune-up. Assuming the World Boxing Council attempts to force Fury to defend against Whyte next, he can always ask the WBC to make him the Franchise champions.
Once they do that, Whyte can forget about fighting Fury because it won’t happen. Whyte would then either be elevated to the new WBC regular champion or he’d be ordered to fight for the vacant belt.
Fury can’t sit idle
“What I’m saying is the winner of that fight [Joshua vs. Usyk 2] won’t fight until September or October again,” continued Hearn. “So, if you’re waiting, you’ve got to wait a year.
“You’ve got mandatory defenses to take care of. Andre Ward was the kind of inactivity. He was also the king of the ring, a brilliant fighter.
“I feel like Tyson Fury’s momentum now is unbelievable. His profile has gone to another level and he’s been really inactive.
‘He’s a fighter that actually likes to be active. When you’ve got a mandatory to take care of [against Whyte], a mandatory, by the way, that would do a million-plus pay-per-view buys in the UK and sell-out a stadium of 70 or 80 thousand.
“Why not take care of it? I’m sure Tyson Fury believes he can beat Dillian Whyte, so that was my point.
“Andre Ward then said that he [Fury] doesn’t need to prove anything. I’m a Fury fan, but he’s beaten one heavyweight [Wilder] in the last 2 1/2, 3 years.
“Inactivity is caused by a number of things. Do you agree that a fighter should just sit it out for a year for his next one?
“His [Ward] main point was, he [Fury] doesn’t need to fight Dillian Whyte. He can just wait a year for the undisputed,” Hearn said.
As Andre Ward points out, Fury can do whatever he wants to do while he waits for the winner of the Joshua vs. Usyk fight.
If the WBC attempts to strip Fury of his title for not defending against Whyte, he can ask for an exception or request to be made Franchise champion.
Fury vs. Whyte = brutal fight
“Different styles. It’s going to be a brutal fight, Dillian against Fury, because they’re both huge guys that will lean on each other and can both punch,” said Hearn.
“Dillian punches hard, and so does Wilder. Dillian Whyte won’t gas, that’s for sure. He’ll attack Fury nonstop in the fight. Fury is a good fighter.
“Even though he didn’t look great, even by his own admissions, he did that with over a year out of the ring.
“His conditioning is always impressive and I don’t know how, but somehow his conditioning is really impressive,” said Hearn about Fury having great conditioning.
Fury vs. Whyte would be a brutal fight, which is why it’s one that Tyson doesn’t need.
