Fury has been ordered to defend his heavyweight title against Whyte
The WBC have officially ordered Tyson Fury to defend his heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte, as reported by talkSPORT.
Both camps are currently locked in negotiations to arrange a deal and have been given 30 days to agree to a fight following the announcement.
It comes after the WBC had originally put out a ruling for the ‘Gypsy King’ after his win over Deontay Wilder in October where he was given 30 days to either agree to a unification fight against Oleksandr Usyk, after his win over Anthony Joshua, or defend his belt against the ‘interim’ belt-holder, Whyte.
Previous reports have suggested that Fury would have been open to fighting Usyk, however after his defeat, Joshua activated a rematch clause to fight the Ukrainian again, with that battle likely to take place in early 2022.
After the original 30-day deadline had passed, there was no immediate order from the WBC for the Fury vs Whyte fight go ahead due to the challenger’s ongoing arbitration dispute against them.
Both parties were informed on Tuesday (7 December) of the decision and the ‘Gyspy King’ will now have the option of either defending his belt or vacating his title – however it is more likely he will agree to fight.
When previously asked about the fight, his assistant coach Andy Lee said: “I said, ‘What do you do? Do you retire, do you hang them up?’
“He said, ‘Well, I’m thinking that way.’ And then he said, ‘On the other hand, what else am I going to do with my life?’
“He loves to train, he loves to fight and although there are no challenges out there for him, he can still take a lot of pleasure in cleaning out the division and beating up these other guys and also earn a hell of a lot of money while doing it.
“He likes the Dillian Whyte fight; he is enthused by that, that’s what he is talking about to me so I can see that being the next one.”
Related links:
- Tyson Fury names condition for fighting Dillian Whyte
- Tyson Fury threatens legal action against BBC if nominated for Sports Personality of the Year
- Tyson Fury has plans to fight three times next year, says Bob Arum
