What to expect from Tyson Fury v Dillian Whyte
Mike DiDomizio, CC BY-SA 4.0
It’s a strange state of affairs as far as heavyweight boxing is concerned. With mandatory rematch clauses constantly changing and the situation in Russia escalating, its unlikely we’ll see Anthony Joshua get a rematch with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk. This is a shame really, as the 35-year-old is probably the closest competitor for Tyson Fury — undisputedly the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world right now.
Fury easily swept aside Deontay Wilder in their trilogy fight, dominating almost every round to finish his comeback arch which had been five years in the making. Many thought we’d then get to see a true battle of the Brits between Fury and Joshua, but boxing’s politics once again reared its ugly head and the disagreement between Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren over locations, combined with Joshua’s loss to Usyk back in September, has meant this is a fight most can only dream about. Or worse, one that takes place far too late in each of their careers, redolent of Kell Brook’s recent bout with Amir Khan.
Indeed, it’s left many pondering, what can Fury do next? The answer to that comes in the form of Dillian Whyte. The Jamaican-born ‘Body Snatcher’ certainly had to do, but you can’t say that Whyte hasn’t earnt a shot at Fury. Many feared the once when in the summer of 2020, Whyte was unexpectedly knocked out by Alexander Povetkin, a fight which he had admittedly dominated.
It was a real shock to the system for the Brixton boxer, especially as many considered Povetkin way past his best. However, the loss may have been a blessing in disguise for Whyte, who has looked hungrier and trained harder ever since, comfortably dispatching of the Russian to gain a measure of revenge and then using the win as a catalyst to set up a bout with Fury.
While ‘The Gypsy King’ certainly comes in as the favourite in the sports betting online with SkyBet, boasting an unbeaten record and ranked world number one by Ring the WBC, his sporadic fighting schedule means the bout is definitely not a foregone conclusion. However, the fact Fury has hinted this fight might be his last could mean the 33-year-old would want to go out in style.
“I’ve made more money than I can spend in a million lifetimes… I’ve been in this game 14 years now and I’ve been punched to pieces. The only thing I can gain is money, so after this fight I’ll have earned over £100million. If I can spend that, I don’t deserve any more, do I?” He said.
“Why do I have to be one of those people who went on too long and got injured? Just had one too many fights and blew it all for what? A few more quid? I want to retire on top, unbeaten heavyweight champion of the world. I want to do a Netflix documentary, a Hollywood movie, and be a good husband, father and son.”
Whyte will be desperate to be the man that stopped Fury’s perfect record, but it certainly won’t be an easy feat. The pair are expected to square off on April 23rd at Wembley Stadium, with Hearn and Warren looking to have settled their differences. Only time will tell if Fury will carry on if he is to make it a 33rd career win in the capital.