By Charles Brun: Johnny Nelson believes Dillian Whyte is doing a good job giving Tyson Fury a taste of his own medicine by choosing not to help promote their April 23rd mega-fight at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Nelson feels that Whyte is (28-2, 19 KOs) is pulling from the Fury playbook by not helping out. However, the move by Whyte isn’t affecting the unflappable Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) is beyond mind games.
The tactics Whyte is pulling are only annoying the boxing fans and Fury’s promoters that put up the millions to stage the fight.
Ultimately, it’s a move that won’t help Whyte win the fight, and it’s missed opportunity for him to create new fans. If Whyte wins, it won’t matter that he missed out on the opportunity to introduce himself to new fans.
“Dillian Whyte is doing a Tyson Fury on Tyson Fury,” said Johnny Nelson to Pro Boxing Fans when asked about his thoughts on Whyte’s silence during the promotion of the Fury fight.
“He’s not playing ball. He’s doing it at his pace, his rules,” said Nelson about Whyte. “So, Tyson Fury must understand what’s happening there. This isn’t Dillian’s problem, this isn’t Tyson’s problem. This is the promoter’s problem.
“The fight will go on, the guys will fight. Dillian Whyte is giving Tyson a bit of his own medicine. Remember Tyson doing antics like this? No.
“Obviously, not saying stuff, but doing antics like this when he boxed [Wladimir] Klitschko. The idea is to upset the applecart on the other side. So, Dillian Whyte is doing the right thing,” said Nelson.
If these moves by Whyte could help him inside the ring, it would make sense for him to pull them. Clearly, they’re not bothering Fury one bit, as seems more amused at what Whyte is doing than upset.
What’s unclear is whether Whyte will be penalized a part of his purse for failing to help promote the fight. If he’s going to lose money over this, it seems like a self-defeating move on his part.
Whyte is already unhappy with the 80-20 split that he was given. Whyte could be making it worse for himself by losing money potentially not taking part in the press conferences, and that doesn’t make sense.
“Not really. Tyson Fury, no,” said Nelson when asked if Fury would ever think of pulling a move like this. “I think he knows every trick of the book when it comes to boxing. So, it’s probably a bigger deal to everyone else.
“Tyson Fury is pulling the best option he has in regards to Dillian Whyte,” said Nelson.
“The fight should go ahead. Everything points to it taking place,” said trainer Don Charles to Secondsout when asked if the Fury vs. Whyte contest will happen on April 23.
“In terms of Dillian’s stance, no, it won’t affect the fight. Obviously, the promotional aspect of it, yes, in the sense that, I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe there’s ever been in the history of a fight, especially of this magnitude, where the opponent or the other part hasn’t turned up to promote the fight. I’ve never witnessed that.
“Everybody has a chance… anything can happen in the heavyweight division” 👀@tyson_fury‘s trainer SugarHill Steward weighs up Dillian Whyte’s chance ahead of #FuryWhyte 🥊
Watch the full interview on YouTube.
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) March 29, 2022
“So it’s unique. Fury being the charismatic entertainer, salesman, you saw what he did in the first press conference. He improvised. It’s a one-man show. That fight any publicity you can get will increase the number of spectators you get to watch the fight.
“The fight sells itself but the more involvement you have with Dillian. I’m very disappointed as a fan because I was looking forward to the press conferences between Dillian Whyte and Tyson Fury. We the fans have missed out on that.
“We know what he is alluding to on why he didn’t show up, but it is disappointing. Fans worldwide, we’ve been denied the entertainment because the press conferences are a part of it.
“He [Whyte] said why because they’re not paying him what he believes what he deserves. Therefore, he’s not contractually obliged to take part in promoting the fight. That’s what has been documented.
“First and foremost, Dillian deserves his chance. He’s been waiting for a lifetime to get this opportunity. How do I see this fight panning out? I’ve witnessed firsthand where I’ve trained an individual to try and fight Fury.
“The guy, I’ve described in the past as being a chameleon where this guy, Fury, has the ability to adapt, the ability to change colors. So, it’s very, very hard to train for somebody that is able to rip up your game plan in front of you, and there’s not a lot you can do about it.
“I’ve experienced it twice with Dereck Chisora. I was so convinced in the second fight with Fury and Chisora that we were going to get an emphatic victory over Fury, and guess what?
“Fury made it easier, he won easier than in the first fight with Chisora, and that’s when I became a fan of his. I salute him for his ability to rip up your script right in front of you. He has that ability. He’s that special.
“It’s not beyond Dillian Whyte to pull off a victory. It depends on how Fury approaches the fight. Right now, I only see a Fury victory, but this is boxing, heavyweight boxing, and anything can happen.
“It’s all down to how Fury approaches this fight. The fact that Dillian has locked himself away in Portugal, this is his chance to make history. Somebody with that type of ambition, and he’s waited and waited, I wouldn’t dare to write him off.
“This has all the makeup of an upset in boxing, it has. When you’re fighting somebody, the more you engage in meetings and press conferences, you draw certain elements from the opposition. It’s getting to know the enemy, and you get the feel of them, body language, psychology, everything.
“The fact that Fury is not getting the measure, the feel [of Whyte]. After all, Fury is a human being and breathes oxygen. Fury is a master of press conferences.
“I’ve witnessed it on two occasions where I’ve been involved in the opposition camp, and part of the fight is won during these encounters and press conferences where he’s able to get into his opponent’s head and distort it.
“With Dillian absent, Fury hasn’t been able to administer that. I’m not sure when Dillian is going to turn up. Will he turn up for the further press conferences? He has to turn up for the weigh-in.
“The only time Dillian will turn up is at the weigh-in, and he has to turn up in the best physical shape and mental shape he’s ever been in,” said Charles.
