By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury’s promoter Bob Arum wants mandatory challengers Dillian Whyte and Oleksandr Usyk to battle it out to get a real contender to challenge the winner of the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury unification fights in 2021.
Arum’s idea of Whyte and Usyk fighting each other in what would mainly be another title eliminator, probably won’t be accepted by them. Usyk and Whyte have already been given mandatory status. They won’t want to have to earn it a second time.
Aside from Whyte and Usyk fighting each other to get a real mandatory contender, Arum doesn’t see any point in WBC heavyweight champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) to face mandatory Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs).
Arum sees little value in Fury defending against Whyte right now because that would get in the way of the two Joshua matches next year. The Top Rank promoter Arum doesn’t want to have Whyte or Usyk delay the Joshua-Fury fights next year, and he’s not the only one. Fans want to see Joshua and Fury battle it out twice in 2021.
Fury could be made WBC Franchise champion soon
Speaking to Talk Sport, Arum says that if Whyte tries to push his mandatory position to force Fury to face him by February of 2021, then the WBC will alter his plans. They’ll make Fury the Franchise champion, and Whyte won’t have the chance of fighting him.
If Fury beats Joshua twice in 2021, then he would have no reason to swing back and face Whyte because he’ll already be the IBF, WBA, WBC Franchise, and WBO champion. The WBC’s creation of the Franchise belt radically has devalued the regular WBC belt.
The WBC has done this before with Canelo Alvarez and Vasiliy Lomachenko, which has saved relieved the from having to make mandatory defenses against guys that they weren’t looking to face last year.
When the WBC elevated Canelo to Franchise 160-pound champion in 2019, he had mandatory challenger Jermall Charlo breathing down his neck, wanting his mandated title shot.
Likewise, when WBC lightweight champion Lomachenko had mandatory Devin Haney complaining about wanting his mandated title shot, the WBC made Loma their Franchise champ at 135.
The WBO doesn’t have a similar Franchise status to give to Joshua, so he’s not in a great position to dodge his mandatory Usyk. Joshua will defend against his IBF compulsory Kubrat Pulev later this year, and Arum has been telling the media that he thinks his fighter Pulev will win that fight.
Will Dillian and Usyk agree to fight?
While it sounds like an excellent idea for Usyk and Whyte to fight to decide on a genuine contender for the Joshua-Fury winner
If Fury becomes Franchise champion, then Whyte will likely be elevated to the new WBC heavyweight champion at the same time.
In theory, that should make Whyte happy because he’s been complaining for the last three years about him not getting a title shot for the WBC belt. If Whyte is elevated to WBC champ, the problems should be solved. However, that’s not likely to be the case. Whyte wants the fights with Joshua and Fury.
Having the WBC belt will mean nothing for Whyte if he’s seen as the ’email champion.’ Being a WBC email champion would make Whyte look illegitimate in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans because he didn’t beat anyone good.
Fury wants Whyte to face Dubois, Joyce, and Povetkin
Whyte will be truly out of luck once Fury has been upgraded to Franchise champion. Fury said that Whyte could test himself against Alexander Povetkin, Daniel Dubois, and Joe Joyce BEFORE he faces him.
“When the time comes, I’ll put him [Dillian] in his place,” said Fury to Queensbury. “Until then, I think he’ll have plenty more to worry about with the likes of Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce, and [Alexander] Povetkin who he’s fighting next.”
You hate to say it, but the odds of Whyte beating Povetkin, Joyce, and Dubois are very slim. I mean, Whyte might be able to get passed the 40-year-old Povetkin, who he’s facing this August, but Dubois and Joyce are another kettles of fish.
If Fury is serious about Whyte needing to beat those three heavyweights before he fights him, then he’ll probably never get a shot. I can’t see Whyte beating all three of them. Heck, Whyte might even get beaten by all three.
If the WBC elevates Whyte to their regular WBC heavyweight strap-holder at the same time they upgrade Fury to Franchise champion, they could create a trap for Dillian that he’ll never escape. Once Whyte is the SECONDARY WBC champion, he won’t have the prestigious Franchise belt, and Joshua and Deontay Wilder could ignore him.
Whyte will lack prestige as WBC email champion
With his Franchise title, Fury won’t have a reason to fight Whyte, and he can just ignore him if he badgers him for a fight. There will be no way for Whyte to force Fury to face him once he’s the Franchise champion.
He can’t even force Fury to fight him now, as you can see. Arum is talking about Fury being made Franchise champion if Whyte keeps pressuring for a title shot by February 2021.
It might be a waste of time for Whyte to use legal action to force a title shot for the WBC belt. As Bob Arum says, Fury will likely be made Franchise champion if Whyte continues to push for his title shot. Getting the WBC belt won’t change Whyte’s fortunes for the better.
He might as well still be the interim WBC champ like he is now because having the WBC email title won’t result in Whyte getting big fights against Joshua, Fury, or Wilder. They’ll all ignore him.
