By Jeff Aronow: Promoter Frank Warren has confirmed that Tyson Fury will be fighting on March 26th against Dillian Whyte or possibly another fighter. Warren says if the Whyte fight does go to a purse bid, Fury will still be guaranteed an 80/20 split.
There’s a purse bid that is tentatively scheduled for January 11th. Warren points out the split shouldn’t even be 80/20, given the tremendous disparity between Fury’s recent purses and Whyte’s.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) made $20 million for his trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder on October 9th. In contrast, Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) made $300,000 for his rematch with Alexander Povetkin last March.
It’s still too early to know if Fury will be fighting Whyte on March 26th or someone else. Warren didn’t say anything about Fury vacating his WBC title, but his other promoter Bob Arum said last December that he wouldn’t be defending that title for his next fight in March.
Arum had mentioned Andy Ruiz Jr. and Robert Helenius as two options for his next fight. According to Arum, Fury will be defending his Ring Magazine heavyweight title.
Fury to fight on March 26th
“The WBC determines what the split is, which I always felt, will be 80/20,” said Frank Warren to iFL TV on the Fury vs. Dillian Whyte purse split. “Fury wants to fight by the end of March.
“But whatever happens, he’ll fight on the 26th of March. That’s what the objective is. The fact of the matter is, that’s when he wants to fight. That’s what the splits are; that’s what they’ve ordered.
“The contracts that he’s [Whyte] lodged for his last three fights, the last one was for 300 grand, and the one prior to that was approximately 500 grand.
“Tyson’s last fight was $20 million. It would be nothing other than an 80/20 split, and really if you look at the monies that they earned for their last fight, it shouldn’t even be 80/20.
“The objective is for Tyson to be out on that date and defending his [WBC] title against Dillian Whyte or something else if it’s there, but he wants to fight at the end of March, and that’s where we’re at,” said Warren.
Boxing fans essentially don’t care what split Whyte gets for the Fury fight, as they want to see ‘The Gypsy King’ in action, period. It doesn’t matter to the fans whether Fury faces Whyte or another heavyweight.
If given a choice, U.S boxing fans would rather see Fury fight Andy Ruiz Jr. rather than Whyte because he’s a fighter they’re more familiar with.
For a lot of American fans, they only know of Whyte from his knockout loss to 41-year-old Alexander Povetkin in 2020.
No deal reached yet with Whyte
“Not at the moment,” said Warren when asked if they’ve reached a deal with Whyte. “We will see,” said Warren on whether a purse bid will take place for the Fury vs. Whyte fight.
“Whatever happens [with the purse bid, Tyson will get 80% of it. If it does go to a purse bid, we’ll put a significant bid in for it. There aren’t any other stadiums to put it [Fury vs. Whyte] in due to that time of the year and the weather factor. That would be the ideal world [Cardiff].
“I think it would do seven figures,” Warren said when asked him many PPV buys the Fury vs. Whyte fight would do in the UK. “Near a million, but I certainly think it gets up there.
“I think it’s a big fight, but I don’t think it’s as big as Tyson-Usyk at the moment. I think that would do huge numbers. I think next week there will be some kind of announcement ton what’s happening with him,” said Warren.
Fury vs. IBF/WBA/WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk would be the far bigger fight than a match against Whyte. It would be a shame if Fury winds up vacating or being stripped of his WBC title, but anything is possible.