By Charles Brun: Tyson Fury took to social media on Friday to hint about his next fight in 2022, referring to himself as the “Saudi Arabian King.” If Fury is fighting in Saudi Arabia next, Dillian Whyte could be out of luck.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury’s mention of Saudi Arabia could be interpreted as meaning that his next fight will be in that country, and it likely WON’T be against his mandatory Whyte.
It’s not looking at all good for Whyte now that Fury is talking about fighting in Saudi Arabia because that’s not a big enough match-up to be considered “big news,” he’s hinting at.
Fighting Whyte, a guy knocked out by 40-year-old Alexander Povetkin in 2020, would be a big disappointment except for a handful of Dillian’s fans.
You can argue that the majority of the boxing fans around the world would rather see Fury take on former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr.
On Thursday, Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) found out from the World Boxing Council that he’ll only be getting 20% for the fight with Fury if it takes place.
“I’m in the gym, guys, smashing it. I’ve got big news coming. The Saudi Arabian King is coming back. I’ve got some big news coming; hold tight,” said Tyson Fury on social media.
Specifically, the cut will be 80/20 in Fury’s favor, which means Whyte’s stake will be less than the 75/25 split that had already been offered to him by Tyson’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank for the fight.
Unfortunately for Whyte, it’s unlikely that Arum will stick to the 75/25 that he’d already offered.
That might not matter because Arum already said during the same interview on Thursday that he’s moving on and will be looking to set up a fight between Fury and Andy Ruiz Jr. or Robert Helenius.
Fury’s Ring Magazine heavyweight title would be on the line for a fight against whichever of those two is picked out by Arum.
The fans won’t care one bit if Fury is stripped or vacates his WBC title because they view him as THE champion in the heavyweight division.
At this point, titles are mere adornment for Fury to have something to hang over his shoulders as he makes his ring walks for his fights.
Losing the WBC belt might bother the belt-hungry Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk, but if it bothers them enough, they can always fight whoever ends up with the strap, be it Whyte or whoever.