All the latest information ahead of next year’s highly anticipated fight
Tyson Fury’s highly anticipated fight with Dillian Whyte is in major doubt following a purse dispute between the two parties.
Fury’s next defence of his world heavyweight title was expected to be against Whyte 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.
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.
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.
Promoter Arum has disclosed Andy Ruiz Jr. and Robert Helenius are now the frontrunners to be Fury’s next opponent in March.
Fury, meanwhile, on stage at the O2 Arena 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?
March 2022 is when Fury is expected to fight next.
Where is it?
Should the fight go ahead, 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.