AFTER weeks of negotiation, Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte look finally set for their all-British showdown.
Fury is the reigning WBC heavyweight champion after back-to-back victories over Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas.
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The Gypsy King retained his crown by emphatic knockout back in October last year, with unification against then-champ Anthony Joshua eyed up.
AJ was to ultimately lose his own title defence to Oleksandr Usyk and now the pair are poised to rematch, so Fury’s attention has turned to Dillian Whyte as he puts his belt on the line once again.
Whyte was named by the WBC as the mandatory challenger on December 7, but the fight has run into a number of difficulties since then.
The 6ft 9in undefeated ace wanted Whyte to accept around £5m to step aside and let him fight Usyk.
But Whyte’s team have dug in with their man wanting the chance to take Fury’s belts – and they look to have finally got their wish.
After FOUR delayed purse bids for the clash – the final auction is now scheduled for Mexico City on Friday, January 28 – Fury suggested the negotiations were over and Whyte had got his shot.
The Morecambe giant boomed: “I can’t wait to punch Dillian Whyte’s face right in, mate.
“I am going to give him the best hiding he has ever had in his life.
“Dillian Whyte, train hard because you are going to get annihilated, bum.”
When is Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte?
- As yet, there is no confirmed date for the all-British showdown.
- But if made it is expected to be in late March/April this year.
- Fury hasn’t fought in the UK since 2018 when he faced Sefer Seferi in Manchester and then Francesco Pianeta in Belfast.
What is the fight venue?
The most likely venue for the event is reportedly Cardiff or Manchester, but no details are set in stone.
If Fury returned to his roots in the North West it would be his first appearance there in three years since the win over Seferi.
And either venue would be great news for UK fight fans, with the bout likely to take place at a friendlier time than the 5am GMT epics against Wilder.
Which TV channel and live stream will it be on?
Again, with no concrete details everything at the moment is just speculation about the fight.
Make sure you check back to SunSport regularly for all the latest.
But the bout is almost certain to be a pay-per-view event and which platform it is shown on will depend on who promotes the fight.
Fury vs Wilder 3 cost £24.95 to watch on BT and we’d expect something similar for this all-British title clash.
Eddie Hearn said: “I don’t think Tyson Fury is going to care who promotes the fight.
“He will just be thinking whoever puts up the most money, and if I am fighter in this scenario I would just be looking to see who puts the most money up for the fight.
“But I have no problem with Dillian fighting on another promoter’s show at all, and we will be with him promoting him and behind him but he wants to do it on a Matchroom show.”
What they said
Tyson Fury: “They’re all only workouts to me, I’ll destroy every man that comes in front of me.
“I’m due an easy fight anyway, [Dillian Whyte] is ideal really.
Heavy bag on legs is what I’m after to be honest. [He’s] the ideal candidate.”
Dillian Whyte: “Fury has been mandated to fight me twice.
“He asked for the WBC ‘Diamond’ belt to fight me, but ran away when they agreed. He just keeps making excuses.
“Hopefully now he’s got no choice. What’s he going to do? Throw the belt in the bin and run away from more money than he got to fight Wilder?
“[Of course] I’ll finish him.”
