By: Sean Crose
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a war. Or it looks like we should. Oops, we should have one, considering the fact that Tyson Fury co-promoter Frank Warren spent just over 41 million – that is, millions – of dollars on it via wallet bidding. The bout in question is, of course, a potential/likely duel between longtime contender Dillian Whtyte and reigning heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Fury’s all-British battle for the WBC and linear heavyweight championships, if it really ends now, will be held in the UK and will be a pay-per-view.
All in all, Warren – along with Bob Arum’s Top Rated, which is also an advertisement for Fury – has achieved the incredible feat, breaking a record $41,025,000 for the joy of being the force behind the fight. Fury-Whyte duel. Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom boxing came in second, with a bid of $32,222,222, which seems like a tough one right now when it comes to situations like these. The reason this potential bout is starting to take its toll is that Fury and Whyte’s team can’t come to an agreement. The WBC originally ordered 80/20 scaling in favor or Fury, but Whyte and company didn’t have any of those.
And, unless something changes, Team Whyte may still not encounter any of that. With that in mind, it should be said that the overall odds in these matters are 70/30, so Whyte would actually be a percentage less than the standard rate for a challenger if he were to come. around. On the other hand, there is a lot of money to fight Fury. Plus, Whyte wins, it could very well be huge. It should also be noted that Whyte took the WBC to court because he felt the organization had essentially failed to enforce his mandatory ratings.
With that in mind, there’s been much talk about whether Fury could fight heavyweight multi-talented Oleksandr Usyk next for the undisputed heavyweight title. Such stuff requires a lot of money, though, as Whyte is really Fury’s must-have and Usky is set to rematch Anthony Joshua, with whom he won the belt last fall. Suffice it to say, a deal cannot be made, and so Fury is currently focused on Whyte while the second fight between Usyk and Joshua is done.
One thing is for sure after today’s events – Tyson Fury is seen as a very, very lucrative draw by the power of the sport.
