Dillian Whyte A No-Show At First Press Conference, Tyson Fury Faces Off With Poster
The first press conference for the Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte title fight kicked off today in London, but there was a missing guest.
That missing guest was Whyte, Fury’s mandatory opponent and interim WBC heavyweight champion. Just hours before the scheduled presser, news broke that Whyte was not attending Tuesday’s ticket launch event ahead of his heavyweight title shot with Fury on April 23.
“I’m not concerned because this is the Tyson Fury roadshow, it’s never about the opponent,” Fury said at the press conference.
“He’s ugly anyway, this is about me and celebrating my legacy and celebrating it on the biggest stage possible.”
Tyson Fury is not bothered by Dillian Whyte’s press conference no-show…
[📽️ @FrankWarren_TV] pic.twitter.com/4r6SPwojfn
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 1, 2022
Whyte has been silent since the announcement of his ordered title shot and throughout the delayed purse bids, which is in stark contrast to Fury who has continuously been vocal and expressive, especially on social media.
The two finally signed their contracts – Whyte signing it in the waning hours of the WBC deadline – last Monday. Reports said Whyte was holding out because he is seeking additional funds and is not satisfied with his 20% cut of the fight purse.
His promoter, Eddie Hearn, has applauded Whyte’s resilience and has even teased Whyte may not even show up.
Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) had been calling for a title shot for years. He is currently ranked as the fifth best active heavyweight by The Ring, but it was at the end of August 2021 when he reached a career-high ranking of No. 2.
He last fought almost a year ago, defeating Alexander Povetkin via TKO in their rematch.
Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs), meanwhile, has remained on top of the heavyweight division and is currently the world’s best active heavyweight by ESPN, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec.
Tyson Fury does a face-off with a poster of Dillian Whyte after the challenger no-showed at their press conference…
[📽️ @BTSportBoxing] pic.twitter.com/HawvdeznXR
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) March 1, 2022
He is coming off a TKO victory over Deontay Wilder in their classic trilogy fight from October 2021, retaining his WBC heavyweight belt. Fury was looking to get an unification fight against unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, but Whyte and former champion Anthony Joshua have stood in the way of that.
“He’s definitely raised the white flag for this fight. He doesn’t want to go face to face because he would see the fire in my eyes and know he’s getting smashed to bits. It’s fear, it’s terror and I don’t blame him for not being here today,” Fury said.