A fight between the two British heavyweights was expected to be announced this week before the WBC said they ‘cannot order’ the fight
Dillian Whyte’s opportunity to fight Tyson Fury for the World Boxing Council heavyweight title hit a roadblock on Tuesday night due to an ongoing legal case brought by the boxer against the sanctioning body over a year ago.
A heavyweight blockbuster between the two Britons early next year was expected to be announced this week, but the WBC indicated at their annual convention in Mexico City that the case – brought by Whyte’s team due to a delay in him challenging for the belt – is currently unresolved in an arbitration court, and thus they “cannot order” a mandatory Fury-Whyte contest between the WBC champion and the WBC’s ‘interim’ champion.
Whyte had taken action in a case against the WBC in pursuit of his title shot to be mandatory challenger when the two-fight deal was announced between Fury and Anthony Joshua, which then later fell apart when Fury was ordered by an arbitration court in the USA to face Deontay Wilder, whom Fury went on to defeated in Las Vegas in October. A list of the latest WBC rankings was tweeted out by the governing body on Tuesday, omitting any mention of a mandatory challenger.
Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC president, has previously explained: “There is a procedure with regards to the date of the mandatory in the heavyweight division. Upon direct advice of WBC legal counsel I am not in position to discuss any further.”
However, the WBC had passed a ruling last month that Fury was to defend his belt against the WBC ‘interim’ champion, if he could not agree an undisputed world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk within 30 days. That period elapsed last week, with Usyk and Joshua already committed to a rematch in April next year. It now leaves Whyte out in the cold until the arbitration case is complete.
Fury, it is understood, may now have an interim fight in the New Year, potentially a homecoming title defence against another challenger after his epic trilogy victory over Wilder, and if victorious, followed by a mega-fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship next summer against the winner of Usyk-Joshua.
Frank Warren, Fury’s UK promoter commented: “Tyson has earned the right to do as he chooses now. ”