Problems For Joshua vs Fury as WBC Deadline Given To Face Dillian Whyte

Yes, we have it all heard it before with Dillian Whyte being mandatory challenger to the World Boxing Council heavyweight title for over 1,000 days, but with added pressure from this ludicrous and political situation appears to be coming to a head. It APPEARS they mean it. 

FURY HAS TO FIGHT WILDER FOR THEIR 3RD MATCH AFTER WILDER EXERCISING THEIR REMATCH CLAUSE AND THE WINNER TO FIGHT WHYTE BY FEBUARY 2021.

In a statement the sanctioning body said: “The WBC has confirmed that if WBC Interim World Champion Whyte is triumphant against Povetkin, the winner of the upcoming Fury vs Wilder 3 bout, which is scheduled for 19 December, must face Interim Champion Whyte in the mandatory defense of the WBC World Heavyweight Title early next year.”

“The WBC is very much looking forward to this tremendous activity in the heavyweight division.”

Therefore, all is looking less easy for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury to square off with WBA, IBF, WBO champion Anthony Joshua to go straight into a two-fight series against each other if each wins their upcoming title defenses.

The WBC confirmed that if WBC interim world champion Dillian Whyte is victorious against Alexander Povetkin on August 22 (no forgone conclusion), the victor of the upcoming rematch between Fury-Wilder 3, which is scheduled for December 19, must face Whyte as the mandatory defense of the WBC title early next year. Heard it before, yes, but I do get the feeling that with the mounting criticism the WBC has faced is leading to this very big hurdle.

The WBO is also on record in stating that the Joshua-Pulev winner must next face mandatory challenger which as such will be the winner of the proposed Oleksandr Usyk vs Dereck Chisora fight.

All this lands up to the following three options:

• Joshua vs Fury will be a non title fight that will defeat the object to finally unify all major heavyweight belts.
• Step aside money, and it would have to be a considerable amount to BOTH Whyte and Usyk which while delaying Usyk might be an advantage (resulting in him gaining further ‘experience’ in the higher weight class having moved up from cruiserweight). But, it appears Whyte will not accept this…he wants to become champion and this is long overdue.
• Joshua and Fury will fight resulting in both the WBC and WBO stripping them of their respective titles.

What will it be? With so much money, prestige and with boxing history on the line, it’s a tangled web where no one wins. We can only hope the governing bodies, the promoters and the fighters wave that magic wand and hey-presto, a solution is found. Sadly, I think it’s the fans that will suffer with this one.