Hearn proposes 3-fight deal for Tyson Fury: Whyte, Bellew & Joshua

By Boxing News - 12/14/2017 - Comments

Image: Hearn proposes 3-fight deal for Tyson Fury: Whyte, Bellew & Joshua

By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn has a 3-fight proposal he plans on offering former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for 2018. If and when Fury gets his license to fight from the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) in January, Hearn wants him to fight his 3 Matchroom Sport heavyweights Dillian Whyte, Tony Bellew and Anthony Joshua. Personally, if Hearn takes Bellew and Whyte out of the 3-fight deal, then he’s got a great plan for Fury in 2018. The only guy of the 3 worth fighting is Joshua. Bellew and Whyte are a waste of time for Fury. He would be doing Hearn a favor by fighting those two.

Presumably, all 3 of those fights would take place in 2018. Hearn expects Fury to fight in April or May. If that’s the case, then Fury would be fighting Whyte in his first fight back as a tune-up. It’s unclear whether the idea of fighting Whyte will work for Fury. He hasn’t fought in 2 years. To face a top heavyweight like Whyte (22-1, 16 KOs) coming off of a long layoff might not be a good idea for Fury.

Hearn had already spoken of wanting Fury to fight former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew before he faces Anthony Joshua in 2018. But the addition of Whyte is a new idea by Hearn, and it reeks of desperation on his part. It would be a positive for Hearn if Fury agrees to fight both Whyte and Bellew next year, because it would give them both big paydays and obviously bring more money to Matchroom Sport. If David Haye beats Bellew in their rematch net year, then that would spoil Hearn’s plans. Fury isn’t going to waste time fighting Bellew if he gets beaten by Haye. But don’t be surprised if Hearn still tries to make a Fury vs. Bellew fight even under those conditions. That would seem like a classic Hearn move.

“We would like to make him an offer to fight, and we would like to make that lead to the Anthony Joshua fight,” said Hearn to IFL TV in talking about Tyson Fury. “Obviously, if he was with us, it’s a lot easier to make that fight. Politics won’t get in the way. In the meantime, we’ve got a few other heavyweights for him to fight as well – Dillian Whyte, Tony Bellew, AJ; that’s a nice 3-fight deal,” said Hearn.

Fury would be crazy to agree to fight Dillian Whyte in early 2018. That fight offers nothing to Fury. He gets nothing from facing Whyte. I’m surprised Hearn is willing to risk making that match-up, as there would be the potential of Fury losing to Whyte. If that happens, the money that Joshua will make fighting Fury will drop off to next to nothing. It doesn’t look as if Hearn has his head on straight. It’s one thing for Hearn to try and push Bellew onto Fury for a cash out fight for the ‘Bomber,’ but it’s another thing for him also to propose that he fight Whyte as well. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hearn shuffles his other fighters in promotional stable to fight Fury as well one after another. Fury would be wasting his time fighting Whyte. A better fight for Fury would be for him to face David Price. He’s arguably more popular than Whyte. He’s definitely better known with the casual boxing fans in the UK and around the world. Fury vs. Price would be a good tune-up to get him ready for Joshua.

”He has to go before the board in January. I expect that to be a formality,” said Hearn about Tyson Fury needing to meet with the British Board of Control in January to get his license to fight.

Hearn is right about Fury likely getting his boxing license back when he meets with the BBBofC in January. Now that UKAD has cleared Fury to fight again, it’s expected to be a slam dunk that the BBBofC will give him back his boxing license.

”That’s what Tony [Bellew] wants,” said Hearn about Bellew wanting to fight Fury if he gets past David Haye in their rematch on May 5. ”Tony wants to beat Haye and fight Tyson Fury. It’s not secret that’s the plan. I think Tyson will come back in April or May. He’s overcome one hurdle [UKAD]. He’s got another hurdle with the Board. The other hurdle is his fitness and his weight. It looks like he’s working hard on that,” said Hearn.

Hearn is making a mistake in assuming Bellew beats Haye. I don’t think Hearn remembers how the previous Haye-Bellew fight played out. Bellew was getting beaten by Haye before he suffered an Achilles injury in the 6th. Without that injury, Haye would have won the fight with his jab alone. Bellew was too slow, too upright and too limited to get past Haye’s jab. Without an injury to slow Haye down in the rematch, Bellew will surely lose that fight. It would be better for Hearn to plan in a more realistic manner. If he lets the media know that he would like for Fury to face Bellew next year regardless of what happens in the Haye fight, and then we’ll know what his main objective is.