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The drama surrounding boxing’s heavyweight division may soon be coming to an end. According to ESPN, Tyson Fury will defend the WBC heavyweight title against interim champion Dillian Whyte in 2022, pending the purse bid between the fighters.
This news comes after rumors that Anthony Joshua would take step-aside money for Fury to fight WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO champion Oleksandr Usyk, who defeated Joshua for the titles September. Joshua has denied the rumors. ESPN reported that Whyte and Joshua agreed in principle to step aside but the deal later fell through as negotiations collapsed.
The WBC has had to delay the purse bid hearing for Fury and Whyte several times. There has been an issue regarding the split of a potential purse. A new deadline of Friday, Jan. 28, has been ordered.
MORE: Would Anthony Joshua step aside to allow Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk?
Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn works with Whyte and Joshua. He is hoping that the drama surround ing the heavyweight division finally gets put to rest.
“The reality of the situation is we would be willing to see a long form agreement with a plan for AJ — we’re not even at that stage,” Heart told iFL TV, via Bad Left Hook. “Tyson Fury had the opportunity to discuss — Fury don’t want to fight Usyk, in my opinion, because he has the opportunity to do it through these discussions and really when it came down to it, he really don’t want it.
“So like right now there’s a purse bid [Friday]. I’m very confident, and all the other times I’ve said I think it’ll be delayed, I’m very confident there will be a bid [Friday] for Fury against Whyte. And I believe that’s the fight that will happen next.”
Fury beat Deontay Wilder in February 2020 for the WBC title. He won a rematch in October via knockout to retain the title. Fury recently posted a photo on Instagram that is the most evidence from anyone confirming a fight with Whyte.
Whyte is a former British heavyweight champion who won the interim WBC title in 2019 against Oscar Rivas. He lost the belt in August 2020 in dramatic fashion against Alexander Povetkin. “The Body Snatcher” won the title back in March via TKO in what would be the final fight of Povetkin’s career.
Whyte has had issues with the WBC when it comes to him getting a title shot; he even sued it at one point. Now, the WBC is in charge of his fate in a purse bid hearing that has been months in the making.
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