Frank Warren, co-promoter for WBC World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury, explains that his boxer’s next fight will not come against mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte.
Warren confirms the statements that were made by his promotional partner, Bob Arum of Top Rank, who recently revealed that Fury would not stake the WBC title in his next fight.
The World Boxing Council had recently ordered Fury and Whyte to begin negotiations for a mandatory fight.
However, Whyte has an ongoing legal case with the WBC – which is scheduled to be heard at arbitration on a date in March, according to Warren.
Whyte is attempting to secure a higher split at a purse bid.
Top Rank has already offered a split of 80-20, while Whyte is looking for a number closer to 45% of the split.
Fury’s return is being positioned for a date in March.
“One of our March shows, I’m pretty confident, will feature Tyson Fury,” Warren told IFL TV. “But he won’t be defending his WBC title. There’s a problem there, not of our making or his making, the WBC and Dillian Whyte are in arbitration and that hearing is not set to be heard until March.
“We can’t negotiate, whatever nonsense Eddie Hearn [Whyte’s promoter] says about negotiating, when the WBC haven’t said what the splits are. In his mind, he thinks he’s getting 45 percent, in our mind it’s 20 percent, based upon their previous purses lodged under WBC regulations. And they won’t determine those percentages until arbitration and until that happens, we can’t negotiate and that doesn’t mean you could just do the fight in April.”
“We’ve got to negotiate, book a venue and if we can’t negotiate then who wins the purse bid has to do that, That wouldn’t go on until June so Tyson will fight, but not for the WBC title. We’re innocent parties in this, it’s not our thing it’s a legal dispute between the WBC and Dillian Whyte which is being settle by an agreed arbitration. Tyson can’t sit around and wait for that to happen, he’s going to fight and defend his Ring Magazine belt, we’ll see, but he will fight some time in March. I’ve been talking to Bob Arum about that and Tyson and that’s the direction we’re looking to go in.”
–boxingscene.com
