By Charles Brun: WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury let his mandatory Dillian Whyte know that he’s got a long wait before he’ll be getting a crack at his mandated title shot against him. A frustrated Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) took to social media on Friday, asking Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) to fight him.
It was a strange request from the 32-year-old Whyte, as Fury still has contractually obligated trilogy match against former WBC champion Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) he needs to satisfy. On top of that, Fury will be fighting for the undisputed heavyweight championship against IBF, WBA & WBO champion Anthony Joshua or Kubrat Pulev in 2021.
Fury made sure that he reminded Whyte that unification fights come before mandatory defenses. What this means is Dillian will need to wait potentially until 2022 before he gets his title shot against Fury, because the ‘Gypsy King’ and Joshua plan on signing for TWO fights, not one.
Don’t be surprised if Whyte is forced to wait until 2022 before he gets his mandated title shot for the WBC belt. Fury has a full plate of big matches in 2021, and the fans have zero interest in seeing him face Whyte.
Fury informs Whyte he’s got a long wait
Those fights are likely to come consecutively in 2021, eating up the entire year. Whyte could get pushed back even further for his title shot if the Fury vs. Wilder trilogy match is delayed until 2021 due to the pandemic.
Whyte can’t count on the World Boxing Council to force Fury to fight him in 2021, considering that they want the undisputed championship to take place between Tyson and Joshua.
Come on @Tyson_Fury you stole my mandatory @WBCBoxing fight me are you a King or a coward like @BronzeBomber let’s fight @EddieHearn I’m ready @vow_nutrition
Let’s go #BodySnatcher pic.twitter.com/g1grWMUu29— Dillian Whyte (@DillianWhyte) May 22, 2020
“Gypsyking101, funny how everyone wants to fight during [the pandemic] when there are no sporting events happening,” said Fury on social media in responding to Whyte calling him out.
“Also, I have a contracted fight with @bronzebomber first, then when I win that, I’ll have a fight with [Anthony] Joshua, as the undisputed comes before mandatory. Happy hunting” said Fury.
It’s an insane thing for Whyte to be doing in asking for Fury to fight him now, being that both guys have in fights in front of them. Whyte will be fighting Alexander Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 KOs) next in 2020, and that’s not going to be an easy match for him. That’s a 50-50 fight, especially with Dillian looking so terrible in his contests against Chisora, Oscar Rivas, and Joseph Parker.
The former WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin has accomplished more in his amateur and professional career than Whyte, and he has a better pedigree. Whyte could lose the fight to Povetkin, which would send his nine-year pro career tumbling down to the depths. It’s safe to say that a loss for Whyte to the 40-year-old Povetkin will finish him as a top-level fighter.
Hearn will give Whyte more chances
From that point, the only way Whyte would get a title shot against Joshua or Fury is if he leans on his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing to use his position to give him an undeserved title shot.
It would be nice if Hearn made Whyte earn a title shot instead of having it given to him. Let’s face it, Whyte did very little to earn the WBC mandatory spot. All he had to do was beat Oscar Rivas, who is an undersized heavyweight with no quality wins on his resume.
Whyte would become the new Dereck Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs), a fighter that has been countless during his 13-year pro career despite losing so many times. Imagine Deontay Wilder losing as many times as Chisora has. Would he be given the same amount of opportunities? I’d say that’s a big NO. Wilder would likely be completely frozen out by the top fighters once he had four or five losses on his record.