Whyte vs Povetkin is on August 22, live on Sky Sports Box Office
By Ben Ransom and Richard Damerell
Last Updated: 26/06/20 5:26pm
Dillian Whyte is mandatory challenger for Tyson Fury’s WBC belt
Dillian Whyte says Tyson Fury’s American promoter Bob Arum should “shut up” and show “respect” after questioning his status as the WBC mandatory challenger.
The Brixton man has already secured a guaranteed shot at the WBC belt, which is currently held by Fury, who will firstly face Deontay Wilder in a rescheduled fight before the end of the year.
Whyte defends his WBC interim title against Alexander Povetkin at the Matchroom Boxing HQ on August 22, live on Sky Sports Box Office, and Arum has suggested he should then battle rival contender Oleksandr Usyk to earn a fight with Fury.
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A sizzling schedule of three Sky Sports shows from Matchroom’s Fight Camp followed by @DillianWhyte v Alexander Povetkin live on Sky Sports Box Office
Full details here 👇
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) June 26, 2020
“Bob Arum needs to shut up, that’s what he needs to do, he needs to shut up,” Whyte told Sky Sports News.
“Listen, the guy is a Hall of Famer, he’s a nice guy and all of this, but he’s just talking rubbish.
“He needs to chill. He needs to learn some respect for himself and have some respect for me as well, and realise that I’ve earnt my position, I’ve worked hard.
Top Rank boss Bob Arum has guided Fury’s career in America
“Have some honour and decorum. You’ve been in boxing a long time, you know what boxing is like.”
Fury could also become a ‘WBC franchise champion’, which would allow him to avoid his mandatory commitments, according to Arum, but Whyte says the governing body have ruled out this status.
“His team are talking about a franchise champion and all of that, but we’ve intervened and stopped that,” said Whyte.
“It’s all good. The WBC have come out and said there’s no chance we’ll be making him Franchise champion, so that’s a step in the right direction. He will have to fight me or vacate the belt.”
Former WBA champion Povetkin has only suffered two defeats to Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua, and Whyte admits he cannot afford a lapse of concentration against the big-hitting Russian.
“He [Fury] would like to see me slip-up a million times over, because he would probably prefer to fight Povetkin than fight me, because Tyson Fury knows. They call him The Gypsy King, I call him The Gypsy Coward.”