By Charles Brun: Bob Arum believes that Dillian Whyte will be more dangerous for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury than his last opponent Deontay Wilder did when the two meet in late April for their mega-fight in the UK.
Top Rank promoter Arum isn’t saying precisely why he believes Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) is a greater danger to Fury than the KO artist Wilder was, but he likely feels that Dillian’s stamina makes him a threat.
Fury dodged a bullet in his trilogy match with the 6’7″ American Deontay Wilder last October when the ‘Bronze Bomber’ gassed out after twice putting him on the deck in the fourth round. Many boxing fans believe he should have been counted out in the fourth round.
Arum giving Dillian a real chance
“Whyte has a great chance because he’s a big, big puncher. He’s a very rugged heavyweight, a very experienced heavyweight,” said Arum to iFL TV on Dillian Whyte.
“If anything, he poses a bigger danger to Tyson than even Deontay Wilder did.”
I would think that Arum has flipped his lid with his belief that Whyte is more dangerous to Fury than Wilder, but he’s right. Deontay doesn’t have the same stamina that Whyte possesses.
If he did, he would have knocked out Fury last October, and we’d be talking about him and Dillian right now.
Whyte has much better stamina than Deontay, which means that if he hurts Fury at any point in the contest, he’s not going to stop throwing punches due to fatigue issues.
Wilder fought like his trainer Malik Scott ignored his cardio training for the Fury fight, as he had absolutely nothing left in the tank after dropping him twice in the fourth.
If that had been Whyte sharing the ring with Fury last October instead of Wilder, it’s fair to say that the ‘Gypsy King’ would have been finished off in the fifth round.
The 6’9″ Fury has packed on a lot of useless weight since 2020, bulking up to the 270s for his last two fights against Wilder. Fury has gained weight to maul Deontay like a big bear, and it worked for him.
At this stage in Fury’s career, his fighting style is now identical to former journeyman Nicolai Firtha.
That style will not work well against Whyte, considering he does well against heavyweights that maul with the Firtha style that Fury now exclusively uses.
Fury is getting hit more than ever before, and he fights like a crude journeyman-level heavyweight.
All the movement that Fury used to show during his best years against Wladimir Klitschko is gone. He’s now just a regular plodder heavyweight, who holds, wrestles, and roughs up his opponents with rabbit shots to the back of the head.
That style will not work against Whyte because he does well against the primitive brawlers, as we saw in his wins over Dereck Chisora.
Fury is not underestimating Whyte
“It was nearly done, and then it wasn’t. At the moment, it’s pretty irrelevant because we are where we are,” said Frank Warren to iFL TV when asked how close they were in putting together the step aside deal for Fury to face Usyk.
👀👀#FuryWhyte https://t.co/oTbc7Jk10M
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) January 29, 2022
“Tyson was up for it, but in the end, some of the financial demands they’ll be making to step aside were just impossible to accommodate.
“He doesn’t underestimate anybody at all,” Warren said when asked how Fury would deal with Whyte. “He’ll train for that fight as he does for every fight.
“He’ll train as hard as he did for Deontay Wilder and Klitschko. That’s the type of shape he’ll be in, and I think he’s a better fighter now than he ever was.
“If you look at his record, it’s not like he’s fought regularly. He’s had spells in between. He’s had one fight, and time has come around in two years. He’s got no miles on the clock. He’ll be ready, and he can switch hit with everything going for him,” said Warren.
It’s good that Fury isn’t underestimating Whyte, but he’s likely to lose regardless unless he fights defensively. Fury can’t just stand in front of Whyte and try and wrestle him as he did against Deontay.
Unfortunately for Fury, he has no choice but to continue to use his mauling Firtha style of fighting because he’s too old and heavy right now to return to his fleet of foot style.
Fury is working hard trying to lose weight, but he’s got too much weight to lose for him to get down to the 250s by April 23rd when he faces Whyte.
Under ideal conditions, Fury will trim off enough fat to get back to the 270+ range that he’s fought in his last two fights, but he’s NOT going to be able to get down to the 240s or 250s.
That’s unrealistic, and he’s going to struggle against Whyte unless he does get down to that weight. Fury would need an extended training camp of perhaps six weeks to get down that low.
If Fury comes up with an injury, they can postpone the fight, and that’ll buy him time to take the weight off, but he’s not going to do that.
He’ll wing it by attempting to beat Whyte while weighing in the 270s and hope that the mauling style that he’s been taught by his trainer Sugarhill Steward will work against Whyte.
Anything can happen with Fury-Whyte
“As for Dillian is concerned, it’s a magnificent opportunity for him, and it’s one that he keeps banging on about, and we’ve delivered it for him. It’s a platform to show whether he’s got what it takes to beat the #1 heavyweight in the world and the #1 heavyweight in this generation.
“He’s shown heart, and he can punch,” said Warren about what qualities Whyte brings to the table. “When you’ve got guys throwing bombs, anything can happen, and we’ve seen it.
“He’s got some good thing, and he’s got some chinks in his armor as well, which I’m sure Tyson will be looking to exploit. It’ll be a great undercard. We’re not even there yet.
“We’ve got a great roster, and we’ll be looking to make it a fantastic evening for fans. This fight [Fury vs. Whyte] doesn’t even need an undercard.
“You can put it on just on its own, but there will be an undercard, and it’ll be entertaining,” said Warren.
