By Kenneth Friedman: Frank Warren has ruled out entirely WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury throwing a bone to recently knocked out Dillian Whyte to give him a title shot on December 5th.
Queensbury promoter Warren told Talk Sport that there’s no gain for Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) in facing Whyte (27-2, 18 KOs), who was knocked out in his previous fight by Alexander Povetkin on August 22.
Warren suggests that Whyte’s promoters at Matchroom Boxing should match him against contender Filip Hrgovic next rather than trying to push for a world title shot after his KO defeat against Povetkin.
Hrgovic would be a good choice for Whyte
Eddie Hearn of Matchroom doesn’t appear to be ready to let the 2016 Bronze medalist Hrgovic (11-0, 9 KOs) face anyone good yet like Fury, even though he’s 28-years-old and close to the same age.
Despite almost as old as 30-year-old Anthony Joshua and 32-year-old Fury, Hrgovic is being matched like a fighter much younger with no amateur experience.
Hrgovic is fighting this Saturday night on November 7th against Rydell Brooker in a 10-round scheduled fight on the undercard of Devin Haney vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa in Hollywood, Florida.
Warren is waiting to determine if #15 WBC Agitl Kabayel will agree to the offer sent to him to face Fury on December 5th. He says he expected to find out by today. If no deal is made, Warren has a plan-B for Fury to face on December 5th.
Athough Warren isn’t saying who that might be, it’s believed to be 39-year-old former world title challenger Carlos Takam
“We’re not in the business of bailing out Dillian Whyte,” Warren said to Talk Sport. “Tyson is not interested in [a fight with Dillian Whyte]. What’s in it for us? There’s no gain in it.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Dillian Whyte get absolutely pole-axed in his last fight?
“At the time he was mandatory challenger to Tyson and they kept banging on about it, but they stupidly put him in with Povetkin and that’s it, he’s lost his chance. He [Whyte] shouldn’t be getting back in there and when he does, it certainly won’t be Tyson Fury.”
Fury has nothing to gain fighting Dillian
Whyte, 32, is stubbornly persisting in facing Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KOs), and he doesn’t seem to care that he’s risking his career by jumping back in there so fast with the same guy.
The news of the 41-year-old Povetkin testing positive for COVID 19 could be a career-saver for Whyte, as now he’ll have more time to recover from being knocked cold by him.
Hearn wants to put together the rematch between Dillian and the 2004 Olympic gold medalist Povetkin on January 30th. Of course, those plans could change if Povetkin’s illness lingers and becomes a serious life-thretening situation,
If Whyte does stay on November 21st, he can’t lose that fight if he wants to stay in the hunt for a world title shot, be it against Fury or IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua.
Warren is correct about Fury having nothing to gain in fighting Whyte right now. The ‘Gypsy King’ isn’t going to come out ahead in facing Whyte and beating him immediately after what he just went through with his fifth round knockout.
If Fury stops Whyte quicker, he won’t receive credit from the boxing public because they’ll say Dillian’s punch resistance was impaired. And if Fury takes longer to beat Whyte, he’ll really be dumped on by the fans.