Fury-Whyte: Pursuit of bid hearing again adjourned, parties given until January 26 to reach agreement

Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte will have at least five more days to reach the terms of their long-discussed confrontation.

A rescheduled wallet bid hearing due to take place on Friday was once again adjourned, as the WBC issued a request for the two sides to continue negotiations for the WBC title consolidation clash between the British contender. The delay was a Monday of the week, with the previous issue scheduled for January 18 after being postponed for a week.

“The WBC has received requests from both parties — Tyson Fury and Dillan Whyte — to extend the agreed-upon free bargaining period,” Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC announced Friday. “If there is no deal, a wallet offering ceremony will take place on Wednesday, January 26.”

Manchester’s Fury (31-0-1, 22KOs) is the defending WBC champion, claiming the title in a seventh-round knockout against Deontay Wilder in a February 2020 rematch in Las Vegas. The feat also re-established the heavyweight title streak, previously held by Fury in his win over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 before severing ties with the sport due to the suspension of drug testing that had been in place since The long and long battle against drug and alcohol abuse and mental health problems.

Whyte (28-2, 19KOs) is a two-time WBC interim title and the defending champion. Brixton-based heavyweight won the title for the first time in a unanimous decision in July 2019 over then-undefeated Oscar Rivas in London. His first defensive attempt resulted in an incredible knockout loss to Alexander Povetkin in August 2020, since taking revenge in a 4th round knockout win on March 27, 2020. last in Gibraltar.

Fury was represented by Top Rank, Queensberry Promotion and MTK Global in the talks, while Whyte – whose direct team had led the talks – competed under the Matchroom Boxing banner. The previous delay came as the WBC tried to settle an appeal by Whyte, who opposed the 80/20 wallet split being applied to the fight in the case of a wallet tender hearing that settled promotional rights. .

The WBC determined the division based on Top Rank claims during the sanctioning agency’s 59th annual conference last November in Mexico City. The matter was brought up at the time, due to Whyte’s ongoing lawsuit with the Mexico City-based sanctioning agency, which also caused a delay in the official ordering of the title match. heavyweight champion.

Whyte and his team managed to get closer to a 55/45 split, even though current WBC laws do not specify a fixed distribution nor do he get any additional benefits. although he is a temporary list.

Meanwhile, Fury and Whyte have been negotiating for more than two months in hopes of resolving the matter, as Fury’s team hopes to regain their undefeated heavyweights in the ring March 26 in the UK or Las Vegas. Negotiations have yet to go very far, with Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum alleging that Whyte’s need for purses has prompted Fury’s side to look elsewhere for their next fight. me.

If Fury fights next in the UK, it will be his first since the early stages of his comeback in 2018.

Fury’s last fight in his home region came in August 2018, scoring the ten-round decisive goal against Francesco Pianeta in a non-title match in August 2018 in Belfast. The match came two months after scoring Sefer Seferi’s fourth knockout goal in a June 2018 comeback win in his hometown of Manchester, England.

Fury is 6-0-1 (4KOs) since returning to the ring, including a memorable trio with Wilder (42-2-1, 41KOs).

All three bouts led to the WBC heavyweight title at stake, with Wilder defending the title in a decisive split, widely disputed draw with Fury in December 2018. Fury twice came out on top. table, including a dramatic knockdown in the 12th round and the round finale.

Their February 2020 rematch saw Fury twice knock out Wilder on the way to the seventh inning in front of a sold-out crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Fury became just the second heavyweight in history to own all four major alphabet titles with a win – coming almost 25 years after Riddick Bowe achieved the feat in two title wins for the first time. separate heavyweights in 1992 and 1995.

Fury’s lone defense came in his epic trio fight with Wilder, surviving two knocks to score three of his own in the eleventh round of the match last October 9. at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Their memorable love affair has been recognized by BoxingScene.com and several other outlets as the Battle of the Year 2021 and is one of the greatest fights in heavyweight title history.

Meanwhile, Whyte waited patiently for his first crack in a major belt.

The 34-year-old heavyweight boxer has long been a front-runner but has fallen victim to the politics of the sport. Whyte has been the WBC’s number one contender since the summer of 2017, although never officially named the required challenger as he has seen many other heavyweights jump rope.

Whyte raised hell on the issue, despite moving forward with his career. An eleventh win followed the only defeat of his career at the time, a seventh round makeover in December 2015 for Anthony Joshua, who went on to dethrone Charles Martin for the first. in two separate title reigns. Among the gunmen announced by Whyte were three undefeated heavyweights at the time – David Allen, Lucas Browne and Oscar Rivas – along with veteran contenders Robert Helenius, Derek Chisora ​​(twice). ) and Mariusz Wach as well as former football player Joseph Parker.

Whyte’s aforementioned knockout win over Povetkin in their rematch last March represented his final ring appearance. Plans for a hectic showdown with Otto Wallin last October fell through when Whyte was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury, and he provided medical evidence to the WBC to retain his current mandatory position. mine.

The hope remains that Whyte’s next fight will be for the heavyweight championship. Fury’s side mentioned a number of replacements, including Helenius and former WBA second-class heavyweight Manuel Charr.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox