By Charles Brun: WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman revealed on Saturday that Dillian Whyte has been replaced by Tyson Fury as World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s mandatory challenger for 2020. Sulaiman explains that due to Whyte’s ongoing investigation by UKAD following the adverse results from his recent drug test before his last match against Oscar Rivas, the WBC has suspended his status as interim champion and mandatory to Wilder.
Sulaiman says the ONLY reason why Fury is now the WBC mandatory is because Whyte ISN’T available right now due to the investigation being conducted on his adverse findings.
Once UKAD’s investigation is completed, Whyte (26-1, 18 KOs) could be restored as the interim WBC champ and mandatory to Wilder. But, if Whyte’s B-sample turns up with a positive result for banned drugs, then who knows how long it would take for him to get a title shot. It took Whyte years to get to the point where he is now as the WBC mandatory.
Does Whyte really want to invest another 2 to 3 years trying to become Wilder’s mandatory again? At some point, you would think it would be better for Whyte to just move on, and look at other options. It would be sad to see Whyte use up his prime years trying to get a title shot against Wilder when he easily could get a crack at Anthony Joshua.
Sulaiman: Wilder’s fight against Fury in February will be the next mandatory for 2020
“Dillian Whyte is in a process from the adverse finding by UKAD,” said WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to Boxing Social about Whyte’s status as WBC mandatory to champion Deontay Wilder. “It’s highly confidently, and it’s highly legal. There are many legalities. We had met with Dillian Whyte and his representatives. We are doing our own ongoing investigation.
“So the fight in February between Wilder and Fury will be the mandatory during that period for that year [2020], and we have said the next mandatory [for WBC champion Wilder] will be in February 2021.
“If Dillian Whyte is cleared of everything and the process, he’s confirmed as interim champion and mandatory challenger, he’s got secured February 2021 fight against the champion, whoever it is. He’s not suspended, and he might be able to fight in the UK. He is not suspended at all, and he’s going through the process of the investigation of something that happened. So they’re doing their investigation, and the WBC is doing it’s own investigation, and we’re going up with the results.
So the next mandatory available potentially for Whyte to fight for the WBC belt is in 2021, but only if he’s cleared by UKAD in their investigation. Given that Whyte’s A-sample is said to have tested positive, it’s quite possible that the B-sample may turn up positive as well.
Whyte’s fans want him to get title shot in 2020
Not surprisingly, many of Whyte’s boxing fans want him to be able to still fight Wilder as his mandatory in early 2020. They feel that because Whyte hasn’t been suspended by UKAD, he should be able to fight Wilder in 2020. However, the WBC has suspended Whyte as their interim and mandatory challenger with their organization.
Once a sanctioning body suspends a fighter, they’re not going to fight for their belt until they clear them. The good news for Whyte is he could potentially get a title shot the winner of the February rematch between Wilder and Fury. Unfortunately, that likely won’t be until 2021 unless the Wilder-Fury 2 winner wants to give Whyte a voluntary title shot. That’s probably not going to happen. Whyte is too risky of a fight for either of them to give him a voluntary title shot.
The bad news is if Whyte’s B-sample comes up dirty, there’s no telling how long it’ll take before he can get a crack at the WBC belt. In that case, Whyte would be better off going in another direction to try and fight Anthony Joshua or Andy Ruiz Jr. for the IBF/WBA/WBO titles. There’s a good chance that the winner of the December 7th Joshua-Ruiz Jr. fight will vacate the World Boxing Organization heavyweight strap. This will be a good chance for Whyte to lean on his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom to set him up with a fight against #1 WBO Oleksandr Usyk for the vacant WBO belt.
Fury has become Wilder’s mandatory because Whyte isn’t available now says Sulaiman
“It’s because Dillian is not available at this moment,” said Sulaiman when asked how Tyson Fury became Wilder’s WBC mandatory over Whyte. “He’s not suspended, but there’s an inquiry. Something is being investigated. He can fight Wilder as voluntary [challenger]. He’s not suspended whatsoever, but his rank he’s earned [against Oscar Rivas] as mandatory and interim champion right now is suspended until everything is cleared,” said Sulaiman.
A lot of boxing fans are confused when they hear that Whyte is free to fight, and that he’s not under suspension by UKAD. What they don’t realize is the WBC hasn’t cleared him to fight as their interim WBC champion or mandatory. They’re not blocking Whyte from fighting, but they are saying that he won’t be able to do it as their interim or mandatory challenger. Unfortunately for Whyte, he needs those things to get a title shot against the WBC champion Wilder. Whyte can still fight for a world title against Wilder right now, but it would be as the voluntary challenger, according to Sulaiman.