WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has explained the reasons for Tyson Fury being able to fight Francis Ngannou instead of defending his belt.
Fury last fought at the end of 2022 when he completed his trilogy against Derek Chisora, with his last mandatory defence coming against Dillian Whyte in April 2022.
However his fight with Ngannou on October 28 will not see his belt put on the line, and comes after mooted fights with unified champion Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz all failed to come to fruition.
Speaking to Gambling.com, Sulaiman said there would be no rush for Fury to fight for his status.
“Tyson Fury is the WBC heavyweight champion. He has been willing, able, and trying to fight Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz Jr or anyone (available) and has not been able to land the fight that the fans would like to see,” Sulaiman said.
“Instead of waiting around, he has no mandatory contenders, so he is going to do this special event in Saudi Arabia. The ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ – the WBC heavyweight champion and the former UFC champion – both giants, this should be a very entertaining evening.
“He is not fighting Oleksandr Usyk because he was not ready last December. Then they couldn’t do it in March and then they went their separate ways. Anthony Joshua – the same thing, so don’t blame Tyson Fury. He has been there and been there ready,” Sulaiman said.
“The mandatory contender is a rule to provide opportunities to the best contender in the division, not to be talked by the champion. If you force the mandatory just for the sake of it, you are doing a disservice to the sport. We will not be rushing up a mandatory contender. We had ordered Wilder vs Ruiz and the winner would have been a sensational mandatory contender and that fight did not take place.
“They are not participating in it so there is no mandatory contender. Fury is the best heavyweight without a doubt. We would like to see Fury vs Usyk so we will not interfere in the plans to have a major showdown for all the belts so there is no hurry to find a mandatory contender and we will see what happens at the WBC convention.”