After a complex and at times exasperating week for the
heavyweight division, the dust is now beginning to settle with Fury vs Whyte
one of two huge fights set for later this year.
Whyte is the mandatory challenger for Fury’s crown after
years of holding a lofty position at the top of the WBC rankings, will finally
get his shot at gold.
Purse bids for the all-British showdown have been delayed
four times this month with a final deadline falling tonight on Friday at 6pm
[GMT].
Fury’s co-promoter Warren was the highest bidder this
evening, earning the right to host the fight in their desired location and on
their desired date.
Warren submitted a winning bid of £31million which was
enough to see off Eddie Hearn and Matchroom who bid £24m.
Fury is set to bank £25m from the fight while Whyte will get
£6m – according to the 80/20 split ordered by the WBC earlier this month.
That ruling remains subject to appeal.
Confirmation of Fury vs Whyte leaves the path clear for
Anthony Joshua to take on Oleksandr Usyk in their world title rematch.
Usyk won the IBF, WBO and WBA heavyweight titles after
beating Joshua in London last September.
Joshua was this week offered a lucrative step-aside offer to
delay his rematch and allow Fury and Usyk to fight first in order to crown the
division’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis.
Talks broke down however with Joshua opting to stay on the
immediate path to redemption against the undefeated Ukrainian.
Although no dates have been confirmed for either fight,
Hearn has suggested Usyk vs Joshua is likely to take place in May with Fury vs
Whyte possible for April.
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