Dillian Whyte has serious doubts whether Tyson Fury will follow through on his comments this week about facing him in one of his last 3 fights of his career. Fury (29-0-1, 20 KOs) surprised boxing fans this week when he revealed that he’ll be retiring after 3 more fights.
Whyte will be fighting next on March 28, but it won’t be against Fury. Dillian’s promoter Eddie Hearn is looking to sign Andy Ruiz Jr. or Alexander Povetkin as his opponent for that date. Whyte says something should be announced possibly next week for that fight.
He listed Whyte as his final fight of his career following his February 22 rematch against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, and a unification match against IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua.
‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) doesn’t buy into what Fury is saying about wanting to fight him in his next 3 fights. Fury, 31, says he wants to give Whyte a title shot because he’s been waiting for 800 days for a world title shot, and still hasn’t gotten a shot. But it’s also a situation where Fury has a lot to gain in terms of pay-per-view money for a fight with Whyte.
That’s not a match that the U.S boxing public would bother wanting to watch, it would play out big in the UK on Sky Box Office. There are a lot of Brits that would love to pay to see Fury and Whyte battle it out.
As long as Whyte doesn’t mess up in his next fight, which could be against either Andy Ruiz Jr. or Alexander Povetkin, he should be available to face Wilder or Fury afterwards.
Whyte waiting to see if he gets Ruiz Jr or Povetkin next
“I don’t know. I’m waiting to see what Eddie is doing,” said Whyte to IFL TV when asked about the progress on the Ruiz Jr. offer. “I’m up for getting big fights this year. If there in America, Africa or wherever. we made Andy Ruiz an offer before Povetkin, so let’s see if he wants it. The two fat boys can slug it out.
“I could fight at the O2, Manchester or maybe even the Copper Box,” said Whyte. “Who knows? We’ll see.
“Fury said he was going to fight me before,” said Whyte in response to Fury’s comments of having only 3 fights left with one of them against him. “He said he was going to fight me before. He said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll fight Dillian if they give me the Diamond belt. The WBC mandated it, and scheduled it, and he pulled out of the fight.
With Fury’s unpredictable nature, it would be a mistake on Whyte’s part for him to count on a fight with him taking place before he retires. Most boxing fans don’t believe for a second that Fury will be retiring after 3 fights.
That’s just when his existing contract with Top Rank Boxing and ESPN runs out. At that point, if Top Rank comes up with a massive new contract offer for Fury, he’ll not hesitate to grab it with both hands so he can continue to make as much money as possible before his career is over.
Tyson Fury is good at conning the public – Whyte
“Fury is really good at conning the public in saying the right things to keep the public interested,” said Whyte. “He does that all the time in saying things to get the public on his side. He talks a lot of s— as well. So I don’t buy into that. Let’s see what happens. If he wants it, he can get it. I don’t know who I’m fighting,” said Whyte about his fight on March 28.
It’s best that Whyte remains pessimistic about a fight between him and Fury ever happening. After all, Fury has had the last 9 years of his career to fight Whyte, and he’s not bothered to do it.
You would think that if Fury honestly wanted to fight Whyte, he would have done it a long time ago. It’s not as if the UK has a ton of good heavyweights. There’s only Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce and Dillian Whyte.
What happens with Fury hinges on his next fight against Wilder on February 22. If Fury performs like he did in the 12th round of his last fight against Otto Wallin, then Wilder will knock him out for sure.
Fury vs. Whyte won’t be a big deal under those circumstances. Fury will look tarnished if he’s destroyed by Wilder. It could be even worse for Fury if he elects to fight Wilder in a third match in 2020, and gets knocked out again.
Chisora beats Usyk if he’s in shape – Whyte
“I’d like to fight Manuel Charr, because I’d bash his head in and take his belt,” said Whyte. “Just for the belt. Why else would I fight him for? He’s held that belt ransom for almost 3 years. He thinks he’s a major star, and warrants a lot of money when he doesn’t. He’s nobody.
“I think Dereck beats him if he’s in shape,” said Whyte about the Dereck Chisora vs. Oleksandr Usyk fight. “Usyk will have a hell of a time. If Dereck is motivated. He’s thinking he can easily outbox Dereck.
“He’s thinking he’s slow,” Whyte said of Usyk. “Joshua isn’t going to fight him [Usyk] next. If Joshua was me, he’d fight Pulev next. He [Joshua] just had 2 highly emotional fights. One he got knocked out, and in the second one, he was on edge,” said Whyte about Joshua’s 2 fights against Andy Ruiz Jr.
“He’ll look good against Pulev,” Whyte continued about Joshua. “He’ll knock Pulev out. Usyk might be a bit tricky. He’ll beat Usyk as well, but he’ll be a lot harder than Pulev will be. I think he’ll beat Usyk,” said Whyte about Chisora. “Usyk is underestimating Dereck, and I’d advise him not to.
“If Dereck comes in shape and is motivated, he beats a lot of guys, and he gives a lot of guys a hell of a night,” said Whyte. “He gave me hell, and I was in shape for both of those fights. Of course, why would he want to take another potential tricky fight?” said Whyte when asked if Joshua will fight Pulev next.
Whyte hoping to fight Wilder vs. Fury 2 winner in 2020
“My team’s on it,” said Whyte when asked if they’re working on forcing a title shot against WBC champion Deontay Wilder before 2021. “They promised me a mandatory, and I fought for it. I fought more top 10 and top 15 contenders than Deontay Wilder did.
“I’m WBC interim world champion,” said Whyte. “Why should I have to wait, and they [Wilder and Fury] fight three fights. The loser should get a rematch. Am I a mark?” said Whyte.
It’s sad how deluded Whyte appears to be with him droning on about how his team are working on getting him a fight for the WBC title in 2020. The World Boxing Council has already made it clear that Whyte won’t get a world title shot until 2021, period.
So instead of Whyte wasting his own time and getting his fans’ hopes up for him getting a title shot this year, he should focus on leaning on Hearn to get him to find quality opponents for him to fight. That means no more Mariusz Wach, Dereck Chisora or Lucas Browne level opponents for Whyte. He needs guys like Andy Ruiz Jr., Anthony Joshua, and Alexander Povetkin.
Dillian needs to give up on his pipedream of fighting the Wilder vs. Fury 2 winner in 2020, because that is not likely to happen. Those two are said to have a contract for a third fight this year, and there’s a great deal of interest from fans in seeing them again.