Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are reportedly scheduled to square off for a third time toward the end of the year, but there may be a hitch in those plans as Wilder revealed he's recovering from surgery on his left bicep after his loss to Fury in February. With question marks surrounding Wilder's future because of his inability to work out, Dillian Whyte offered up a simple solution for Fury.
"Why don't we just get it on?" Whyte told Sky Sports. "(Fury) just talks rubbish. I don't want to talk s— about this, that or whatever. All I want to do is fight these guys."
Whyte, the WBC mandatory challenger, is already guaranteed a shot at the winner of Fury-Wilder 3 by Feb. 2021. But he doesn't see the point in Fury waiting around for Wilder to heal.
"Let's just have the fight," Whyte said. "Like he said to Deontay Wilder, 'It's only a fight, you win some, you lose some.' It's just a fight. Why wouldn't he want to fight me instead of waiting for an injured Wilder to recover, as he may not even be ready by October due to the severity of his injury."
Back in 2019, Fury had suggested that he would fight Whyte for the WBC 'Diamond' belt, but instead fought Otto Wallin. Whyte didn't appreciate that, saying that Fury "couldn't run away fast enough when (WBC) agreed (to set up the Diamond Belt fight)." Whyte has been the mandatory challenger since 2017 and is frustrated with the delay of his opportunity to fight for a world title.
"To say I've only been mandatory for over 280 days since I beat Oscar Rivas, but by the time my shot comes around in February 2021 I will have been the No. 1 ranked contender for over 1,200 days," Whyte said. "That will be the longest wait in the history of boxing. It's frustrating and disgraceful."
Whyte is currently training in Portugal to prepare for a re-scheduled fight with Alexander Povetkin in Manchester, England on July 4, putting his status as WBC mandatory challenger on the line.