BOB ARUM has accused Dillian Whyte of demanding MORE money to promote his fight with Tyson Fury.
Fury’s promoters Arum and Frank Warren won the rights to stage the grudge match with a record £30.6million WBC purse bid.
The champion has now signed his contract but Whyte is yet to put pen to paper, while also giving his rival the silent treatment.
Hall of Fame promoter Arum has now claimed the British contender wants more his way before he starts flogging the fight.
He said on Queensberry Promotions YouTube channel: “He’s trying to get more money. Simple as that. He’s trying to hold us up.
“One thing when you win a purse bid, it says that the fighters will help in ways to promote.
“Well that’s sort of ambiguous. And most fighters, because they’re professional they will promote.
“Now he’s saying, ‘I want extra money to promote, because you’re stuck paying me what the purse bids said which is $7.3m and I want some more money from you to go out there and promote’.
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“And our position is, well we’re not going to give it to you. Now, if the fight does enormously well, yeah we’ll give you a taste at the backend where everybody’s made money.
“But we’re not going to be put in a position where you’re threatening us, to not participate in the promotion. If he doesn’t, he’s a damn fool.
“Because again, there’s always tomorrow and even if he loses the fight, which he figures to do, by participating in the promotion he builds his own image and his own career.
“And secondly and even more important, he really needs the exposure from this big fight and his threat is, that he’s not going to avail himself to that exposure.”
Whyte, 33, is set to receive only a 20 per cent split of the purse bid, a decision he believed to be appealing.
But the winner of the fight will receive a 10 per cent bonus, meaning the challenger could take his earnings to £9m if he pulled off the upset.
Whyte has until February 19 to sign the contract, with Fury already putting pen to paper.
April 23 is the targeted date with Wembley’s 90,000-seater a new frontrunner to host.
