By Charles Brun: Ricky Hatton says he doesn’t want to see Tyson Fury face Deontay Wilder a third time in their upcoming December 19 fight. Hatton prefers that Dillian Whyte, the WBC mandatory, get his shot at Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) rather than watching him face Wilder again.
Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO) executed his rematch clause in his contract to for Fury to face him in a third contest. There’s nothing that can be done about that unless Fury wants to vacate his WBC title, which he’s unlikely to do.
The former two-division world champion Hatton may want to see Whyte face Fury more than Wilder, but the American boxing fans don’t feel the same way. The U.S fans aren’t excited about seeing Whyte take on Fury. American fans want to see Wilder avenge his loss to Fury, and they’re not interested in seeing Dillian get in between them.
A lot of them view Whyte as a slightly bigger version of fringe contender Dereck Chisora. He arguably lost to Chisora in 2016, and probably would have lost the rematch in 2018 if not for the referee Marcus McDonnell continually taking points off from Dereck.
Dillian risking his WBC mandatory position against Povetkin
Hatton seems to be forgetting that Whyte still needs to beat Alexander Povetkin next month. The two are fighting on August 22, and Dillian’s WBC mandatory status is up for grabs in that clash.
If Whyte loses to Povetkin, then he won’t be fighting Fury in 2021, and he may never get a chance at fighting him.
Dillian is frustrated
“It’s not Tyson’s fault that Dillian hasn’t got his shot,” said Hatton to IFL TV. “I think it’s more politics than anything that Tyson has done since he comes back. His fights with Wilder.
“I don’t believe Dillian is having a pop at Tyson because how can you have a pop at Tyson with what he’s done? I think it’s frustration on Dillian’s part, which Tyson would probably say himself that he totally gets.
“Dillian has been waiting forever for his shot, and Tyson might be doing the Wilder fight, which means Dillian gets put on the backburner. I think it’s just frustration. He’s[Whyte] has been talking about the spars they had together.
“I’m a British fight fan. Dillian knocked out my fighter Lucas Browne with excellent performance. That should have been the springboard that catapulted him to the world scene, and I know he’s on the world scene.
“Dillian needs to keep doing things like that. Tyson won’t take offense. He loves all that stuff. But he needs to air his frustration because we all agree with him,” said Hatton.
Whyte should be frustrated at himself because his sense of entitlement is what led to him waiting so long for his title shot. It was Whyte’s decision not to agree to fight Luis Ortiz in a WBC ordered title eliminator in 2018. Whyte lost a year by choosing not to face Ortiz.
A year later, the WBC once again ordered Whyte to fight in an eliminator. This time it was against the arguably less dangerous Oscar Rivas, and he agreed to it. Whyte beat Rivas by a close 12 round decision last year.
If Fury is going to try something different to surprise Wilder, it’s going to be tough. Wilder has already see Fury box and slug. What else can Fury do? If Tyson comes out slugging, Wilder will be ready for him this time and will have something in store for him.
Hatton: Who wants to watch Fury-Wilder again?
“No disrespect to Deontay Wilder,” said Hatton. You saw the first fight [between Wilder and Fury], and Tyson had a hard time and probably should have gotten the points.
“The second fight, he went out there and bashed him. Why would we want to watch that again? No disrespect intended, but Dillian Whyte, who has earned his dues, he’s a British fighter. It would be a great fight.
“Dillian’s confidence is sky-high, and Tyson’s is sky-high. That’s the fight. But the contract [for Fury vs. Wilder III] has been signed, and Dillian is going to have to hold his horses unless someone can get it sorted out.
“But I’d rather, not disrespect to Deontay Wilder; I’d rather see Dillian fight Tyson than the third Wilder fight all day long. I think everyone would. Nine times out of ten, the fighters with all the belts fight each other like Tyson and AJ,” said Hatton.
Believe it or not, many people in the boxing world are interested in seeing Fury and Wilder tangle once again. There’s a general belief that Wilder wasn’t there physically and mentally last February for the rematch. The 1000 yard stare that Wilder gave Fury before the start of the fight had the look of someone that didn’t want to be there on the night.
The 6’7″ Wilder’s defeat may have woken up and given him that sense of anger and resentment that was missing from the second fight. Wilder knows what he’s up against going into the second fight, and it’s going to be harder for Fury to surprise him like last time.
Fury, 31, isn’t expected to vacate his WBC title. If anything, the World Boxing Council may allow Fury to bypass Whyte so that he can face Joshua for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Whyte wants Fury fight more than the title
“They might vacate one of the belts where Dillian can step in and fight it, which would give Dillian his dream of fighting for a world title,” Ricky said. “I think Dillian wants to fight the man [Fury], and I would like to challenge the man.
“I got the chance to fight Kostya Tszyu, but Dillian doesn’t want to fight his world title by fighting for the vacant title. ‘Poor Dillian has been waiting here. We’ll vacate one of the belts.
“He can fight for the vacant one.’ But Dillian wants to fight Tyson. He wants to fight the best, doesn’t he? Kostya Tszyu won the undisputed title beating Zab Judah, but then he vacated all the belts, and I only fought for the IBF.
“But I wanted to fight the man. Don’t forget, it’s a bigger payday [for Dillian] against Tyson than it is for the vacant. That’s what we do in looking to win world titles to make money to provide for your family,” said Hatton.
It wouldn’t make Whyte happy at all if Fury were to vacate his WBC title, because that would eliminate his chances for a big payday. That’s the prize the Dillian, 32, wants obviously. He’ll get a big payday facing Fury, and if he beats him, then it would lead to a lucrative rematch.
Also, a win for Whyte over Fury would set up an even bigger match between him and IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua in 2021. Whyte lost to Joshua by a seventh-round knockout in 2015, but that was a long time ago. Maybe Dillian can change the outcome in a rematch with the experience he’s gained over the years since their first fight.