All the latest information ahead of next year’s highly anticipated fight
Tyson Fury is set to face Dillian Whyte next in the defence of his world heavyweight title after the World Boxing Council sanctioning body moved Whyte into mandatory challenger status with three options for the venue: Cardiff, Manchester, or Las Vegas, Nevada, expected to be in March 2022.
The decision appears to have ruled out Anthony Joshua stepping aside from his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk for Fury and Usyk – holder of the IBF, WBA and WBO belts – to contest an undisputed heavyweight title next.
Whyte, the interim WBC champion, was the organisation’s No 1 contender for more than 1,000 days without a title shot, and had taken legal action against the WBC, which it appears, has now been resolved behind the scenes, paving the way for the contest to be ordered.
Fury, undefeated in 31 fights, and coming off a thrilling trilogy contest victory against Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in October, has one deal left on his contract with US-based Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, with Whyte promoted by Eddie Hearn. Frank Warren is Fury’s UK promoter, working in conjunction with Arum.
The WBC has ordered an “open negotiation period” and if an agreement between the Fury-Whyte teams fails to materialise in the coming weeks, a purse bid will be ordered. Fury is likely to demand an 80/20 or 75/25 share of their purse, normal practice in these situations.
Fury, meanwhile, on stage at the O2 Arena on Tuesday night as part of a six-city homecoming tour which ends Wednesday in Glasgow, revealed Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua had been at the top of the wishlist, but that he was ready “to fight all of them, I don’t care”.
“I’ll leave it up to my promoters to sort out. Usyk holds all the other belts, Anthony Joshua has a big name, but I’ll beat any challenger, I don’t care who it is. I’ll happily beat Whyte up and give him a boxing lesson,” said Fury.
Fury, from Manchester, has not competed in the UK since his comeback fight in August 2018.
What is it?
A world heavyweight fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte for the WBC belt.
When is it?
A date is yet to be finalised but it is set to take place in March 2022.
Where is it?
There are currently three potential locations for the fight – Cardiff, Manchester, or Las Vegas, Nevada
Warren told Telegraph Sport: “We’ll look at all the options, but Cardiff and Manchester are at play in the UK, or if not, we’ll go to Las Vegas again. But we are in talks already. We want to get this over the line so that Tyson has his objectives and can get into camp.”
How to watch Fury-Wilder III on TV
Fury’s recent fights have been broadcast on BT Sport pay-per-view while Whyte’s bouts has been on Sky Sports box office.
It means a deal will likely need to be stuck over who holds the main rights.