By Charles Brun: Frank Warren revealed on Thursday that Tyson Fury WON’T be defending his WBC heavyweight title when he returns to the ring in March.
The promoter Warren says Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) won’t wait for his WBC mandatory Dillian Whyte’s arbitration hearing to conclude before fighting again.
According to Warren, the arbitration hearing for Whyte’s legal dispute with the World Boxing Council isn’t until March, and they won’t know until then what the purse splits will be for the Fury-Whyte fight.
In the meantime, Fury isn’t going to sit around and wait on Whyte’s arbitration case to be concluded with the WBC.
In March, Fury will return to the ring, and his WBC title won’t be on the line for that fight. Instead, Fury will defend his Ring heavyweight title, says Warren.
The arbitration case for Whyte will determine if Dillian will get his desired 55/45 split or if Fury will get the 80/20 split that he wants for the fight.
Fury WON’T be defending WBC title in March.
“Yeah, I’m pretty confident that one of those shows will feature him,” said promoter Frank Warren to iFL TV when asked if Tyson Fury will be fighting in March. He won’t be defending his WBC title; there’s a problem there.
“It’s not with our making or his making, I should say. The WBC and Dillian are in arbitration. That is not set to be heard until March. We can’t negotiate. It’s all very well Eddie Hearn with his nonsense about negotiating.
“How can you negotiate when the WBC hasn’t said what the splits are? So in his mind, he’s thinking he’s getting 45%, and in our mind, it’s 20% based on the previous purses that were lodged under the WBC’s regulations.
“They won’t determine what the purses are until the arbitration. So until that happens, we can’t negotiate, and that doesn’t mean the fights going to take place in April. We’ve got to negotiate, book a venue depending on if we can negotiate something or who wins the purse bid, and then we’ll go on until June.
“So Tyson will fight, but NOT for the WBC title. They won’t. The arbitrator will in March,” said Warren when asked when the WBC will determine the purse splits. “That’s when the deadline is for the hearing.
“This has nothing to do with our side of the table. We’re innocent parties. That’s not our thing. This is a legal dispute between the WBC and Dillian Whyte, which is being settled by an agreed arbitration. It’ll take place in March,” said Warren.
Tyson won’t sit and wait for Whyte’s arbitration
“So, Tyson can’t sit around and wait for that to happen,” Warren continued. “So he’s going to fight. He may defend his Ring belt, we’ll see, but he’ll defend sometime in March. That’s the direction he wants to go in.
“If we’re still having problems with Covid here, we may wind up back in the States. He can’t be inactive because of the problems with the arbitration between the WBC and Whyte,” said Warren.
“We’ve got to sort out an opponent first before we move forward,” said Warren about Fury’s next fight. “I’m not going to get into that [who Fury’s next opponent might be].
“We’ve got to get certain things done, but we are working quite hard on it, and there are four in the frame, and we’ve got to make a decision on that as such as their availability.
“Of course, he’s [Fury] not saying he doesn’t want to defend his title,” said Warren when asked if Fury will choose to face Whyte if Dillian’s arbitration case is settled quickly with the WBC.
Arbitrator to determine Fury-Whyte purse split
“The fact of the matter is, you can’t negotiate when one guy [Dillian Whyte] says he thinks he’s getting 45% of the pot, and we feel differently, and the WBC feels differently about it.
“Even though they’ve not said it, I know for a fact that he [Dillian] lodged his purse, which was 300,000 for his last fight [against Alexander Povetkin]. I know Tyson was far more money than that [in his trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder on October 9th].
“So, that’s how they determine the value of a fighter and a value of a purse bid when it goes to purse bids. This is what you normally earn, so this is what it is.
“That’s for the arbitrator to decide, and hopefully, he does the sensible thing, and we can get on with it. Dillian would know what the bottom line is, and we can commence serious negotiations,” Warren said.
Warren is confident Fury vs. Whyte takes place
“I believe if there’s a will, there’s a way to get it done, but if there’s not, then it goes to purse bids,” Warren said on whether the Fury vs. Whyte fight can happen.
“Whatever it is, it is. Because he was interim champion at one time, but he got beat [by Alexander Povetkin], and then had a rematch and won it back. That changed his position,” said Warren when asked why Whyte and his promoters at Matchroom Boxing want a 55/45 split for the Fury fight.
“More importantly, once he [Whyte] got beat, that finished his position as interim champion. He then had another fight, he had a rematch, but that didn’t install him to be; as far as the percentages are concerned, in our opinion, they are totally different.
“More importantly, purse bids are determined by how much you earned previously. For example, you’re going to fight Canelo. Canelo can fight anybody and go and earn 40 million dollars.
“So let’s say the fight he’s involved in generates 60 million, and he’s taking 40 and expenses, and that’s down to 50. He fights someone that is an interim champion. Is he going to give him 45% of that money? It’ll never happen; it just doesn’t happen,” said Warren in explaining the splits.
“That’s how it works, and it’s worked like that for many, many years or at least for 30-odd years.
Frank reacts to Hearn’s comments
“First of all, I believe Tyson wins that fight,” said Warren in reacting to Hearn’s comments about his belief that Frank is doing a bad job by not negotiating a rematch clause for Fury in a potential fight with Whyte.
“Secondly, anything can happen in boxing, so I get the situation regarding a rematch. We got a rematch clause in there, and in the meantime, Joshua gets it on again with Usyk and whoever wins that fight.
“It means we’re no lumbered with a rematch clause [with Dillian Whyte], and we can’t get the big fight on with the one that everyone wants to see [against the Joshua vs. Usyk 2 winner].
“So, I don’t particularly want to do that. I want to see Tyson get in there, win the fight [against Whyte], and then go and fight for all the belts. That’s what I want to see. That’s part of these problems of being in the past. I just don’t feel it’s appropriate at the moment.
“It’s not that we’re doing a bad job for our client [Fury]. We’ve done a good job for our client. He’s the #1 heavyweight in the world, a very, very good job for him.
“He’s the undisputed #1 heavyweight. I don’t know where he [Eddie Hearn] comes from with that. What his views and my views are, at times, totally different. I totally have a different view on that. All I want is for Tyson to get a fight out,” said Warren.
Fury’s next opponent could be determined soon
“He’s only had one fight in 22 months,” said Warren. “He wants to be out again in March and then get rid of the obligation with Dillian Whyte based on the terms of what’s been decided [by the arbitrator], and then I want to see him come through that fight and fight for the four belts.
“I personally don’t want nothing else in the way. That’s a good job for boxing and our client, I believe. I would like to have it done within the next few days,” said Warren on when Fury’s next opponent for March will be decided. “We are talking at the moment.”
“Maybe not Cardiff, but March, I think, you’ll see that fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing UK about the Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte fight.