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Dillian Whyte silence speaks volumes as Tyson Fury fight conspiracy theories emerge

Dillian Whyte

Could Dillian Whyte step away from his long-awaited world title fight with domestic rival Tyson Fury?

Tyson Fury's British promoter Frank Warren won the highest successful purse bid in boxing history last Friday evening.

His £31m offer was way in excess of Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing bid of £24m to stage Fury vs Dillian Whyte.

The fight is expected to take place in the UK on April 23 with Whyte challenging for Fury's WBC belt - the first time in his career he has had a shot at a world title.

We may well have expected some sort of reaction from Whyte, who has been waiting patiently for years for a shot at the big time. But with the WBC demanding a 80/20 purse split in favour of Fury, Whyte has been quiet.

In fact the 33-year-old and his promoter Hearn have been deathly silent, neither have made a comment publicly since the announcement.

Of Warren's winning bid, 10 per cent is kept as a winner's bonus, while the rest is split 80/20.

That means that Fury will receive £22m, Whyte will receive £5.5m, and the winner of the fight earns an additional £3.1m bonus.

That is not understood to have gone down well with Hearn and Whyte.

The deadline for a private agreement to stage Fury vs Whyte - before 'purse bids' had been knocked back four times.

Friday, January 28 at 6pm was the final cut-off point, but a private arrangement was not found and Warren was successful with his bid.

Now, while we await confirmation of the fight date and venue, speculation has suggested that Whyte may well pull out of the fight.

Could Whyte pull out?

A number of fans on social media have claimed that Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) could pull the plug on the fight over the split of the purse and leave Fury high and dry.
That would leave Fury looking for someone to step into the breach.

Dillian Whyte

Hearn may well be trying to line up a better financial deal for Whyte against either Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk, who are set to battle again after Joshua signed the re-match clause after losing to Usyk in September.

Of course, Whyte could opt to make life difficult for Hearn, Top Rank and Bob Arum and refuse to participate in the promotion of the fight.
And that is a concern that Warren has already spoken about.

"It's nothing to do with Matchroom. We're dealing directly with [Dillian's] team. It's up to him. If he wants us to go through Matchroom, then we will. If we don't have to, then we won't," said Warren to Boxing Social. "That's going to be up to Dillian.

"It's a straightforward contract. It's a purse bid, there's no options. This is the fight, this is what you're getting paid, as per the purse bid. This is where it's at. Just be there.

Warren hoping Whyte cooperates

"Hopefully, I hope, will help us promote the thing because it's a great fight for the fans," said Warren. "It's going to be a big occasion. It's going to be great for Tyson and great for Dillian to be involved in such a spectacle.
"It'll be great for him to cooperate. I hope he does. I hope he behaves professionally as we will towards him. He's strong, he's tough and if you look at the background he's coming from, he's done exceptionally well.
"He definitely has got a lot of self-belief, he can punch and he fancies the job with Tyson. He's been sitting there for over 1000 days waiting for his opportunity. Well, he's got it now, and here's his chance to prove what he's worth, what he's got in the tank."

Fury ready to 'punch Whyte's face in'

Fury has been characteristically vociferous on social media.
"I can't wait to punch Whyte's face in," said Fury.
"I'll give him the best hiding he's ever had.
"Whyte, train hard! Because you are getting annihilated."
But Whyte's long-running feud with Fury, who he has labelled a "coward" has belief he can drop Fury like he claims to have done many times in sparring.

"He's continually said he can beat Tyson. He obviously feels he's seen some kind of chink in Tyson's armour. He's got his chance now to exploit it and get very well paid for it," added Warren.

"He's [Fury] had one fight in the last two years. What do I think? I think Dillian is going to have a really tough fight, but he knows that better than anybody.
"Tyson, he knows this guy is coming to give him a tough fight, and you know these domestic big fights, there's always something extra in them. Nothing is forgone. There are always twists and turns. You know Dillian is a warrior and he's going to come to fight."

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