Bob Arum says Dillian Whyte has more waiting to do!
With boxing getting back into the swing of things, the most pertinent information that fighters want to know is when their next assignment is. For WBC Interim heavyweight champion Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte (27-1, 18 KO’s), he wants to know more specifically when he is going to get his shot at the WBC heavyweight title.
Whyte has been the #1 contender for the organization for nearly three years now and has formally been the mandatory challenger since July 20, 2019. Regrettably for his team, veteran promoter Bob Arum, of Top Rank promotions says that the Body Snatcher is going to have to keep on waiting.
HINTING AT FRANCHISE SIDE-STEP
In an exclusive interview with 3kingsboxing.com affiliate Pep Talk UK Arum explained how the newly crowned WBC champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury (30-0-1, 21 KO’s) was tied up with his own obligations with Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KO’s). Even if Fury got passed Wilder, there are likely to still be insurmountable hurdles blocking the way to finalizing Fury v Whyte.
“Nobody’s asking the WBC to make Tyson Fury a ‘Franchise champion’ but if Dillian Whyte pursues this idea of fighting Tyson Fury, that could be a way that I think the WBC could go and Dillian Whyte could fight whatever he wanted and call himself the WBC champion.
“The public is the public. They’re not stupid and the public knows who’s the champion. Particularly now that we’ve had this period where we haven’t had fights, I think we have to do the right thing.
“The right thing is to do the fights that really appeal to the public.”
KEEP HOPE ALIVE
Yet, Arum did offer small glimmer of hope for a scenario that might get Whyte the title shot that he so desperately has craved.
“As far as Fury is concerned, the public wants to see him fight Wilder again to make sure it was not a fluke the last time and then to go right into a Joshua fight. Now if Joshua loses to Pulev and Fury beats Wilder and then Dillian Whyte steps up and says that Fury should fight him, and there is no Joshua fight, I think that’s legitimate.
“That’s a real good fight. Whyte’s been mandatory for so long why not do it? Then you have a Fury with no Joshua and a bunch of other fighters that he could choose from and why not choose Dillian Whyte? That’s all I was saying.
“In other words, don’t let Dillian Whyte being the mandatory interfere with a Fury fight with Joshua. If Joshua beats Pulev, if Fury beats Wilder the fight that everyone wants to see all over the world would be Fury and Joshua.
“Mandatory fights should not be able to derail a fight the public wants to see.”
So while the Body Snatcher does have a small avenue of action to take advantage of, chances are looking pretty good that he is going to continue playing the waiting game indefinitely.
By: Bakari Simpson
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