It is official. After months of back and forth, and so much uncertainty, it has now been confirmed that WBC Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, would defend his title when he faces Dillian Whyte in a bout that would happen in April. This means that Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk II would go on as planned. In other words, we would be getting two heavyweight bouts soon.
The fight was given the green light after Fury’s co-promoter, Frank Warren, won the highest successful purse bid in the history of boxing. Warren’s $41 million purse beat Matchroom Boxing’s $32 million. Based on that, the prize money would be split 80/20, with Fury keeping $32.8 million while Whyte pockets $8.2m.
The fight, an all-British bout, would take place sometime in April at a soon-to-be-revealed location. While there are other matters to settle, the fact that the fight has been confirmed is enough. Whyte has been the mandatory challenger for the WBC Heavyweight title since Fury beat Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight. Fury and Whyte had been ordered to go into negotiations, and the deadline for an agreement was pushed back four times, before Warren won the purse bid last week Friday.
As usual, Fury has always promised that the fight would be worth looking forward to, threatening to deliver maximum damage to his opponent: “I can’t wait to punch Whyte’s face in. I’ll give him the best hiding he’s ever had. Whyte, train hard! Because you are getting annihilated.” He also called the fight the “biggest British dust-up since Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno”, saying it was history in the making. Fury’s hype is adding more to the appeal around the fight. Currently undisputed, his fight against Whyte could either blemish his career record or see him extend his legend one more time.
Written by: Leon Osamor
