Dillian Whyte insisted he wouldn’t let next week’s world heavyweight title contest become “the Tyson’s Fury show” after ending his silence for Thursday’s press conference before the Wembley Clash at the stadium.
The Brixton boxer was absent at the National Stadium on March 1, a week after the all-British the April 23 fight had been agreed upon after the promoter Frank Warren won a record bid of US$41m (£30m) to stage the fight.
Whyte, who was on the front line for a world title in 2017, would only be entitled to 20% of the purse and would have refused the offer of a private jet to fly him from his training base in Portugal on last month. press conference.
Fury took the chance to put on a one-man show, but co-promoter Warren called mandatory challenger Whyte a “shame” only for this week to bring about a change in tactics from the Londoner, who sent a social media post to promote the fight. Wednesday before attending Thursday’s virtual press call.
“When these guys try to mug me and treat me like it’s the Tyson Fury show, they’re going to get some things fixed, so once things got fixed and we were close to doing them correct, I’m a professional so now here I am,” Whyte explained.
“It’s business. This is not the Tyson Fury show. Everyone says Tyson Fury this, Tyson Fury that. If Tyson Fury was the big star, he would have sold the fights with Deontay Wilder. The fights never sold out, so it sold out because of me and Tyson Fury.
“It’s Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte’s show. We’re both in the fight together so some things have to be done right. I’m not dancing on anyone, I’m a warrior and a survivor.
“We can dance together, but it can’t be one way, so things had to be worked out, things had to be worked out and had to be done. That’s it.”
A nearly five-year wait for a world title will end for Whyte on St. George’s Day when he takes on former sparring partner Fury under Brent’s arch.
Fury (33-0-1, 22KOs) remains the strong favorite for the Wembley fight, which will take place in front of a sporting venue-record crowd of 94,000.
But Whyte, who last entered the ring over a year ago in March 2021 to avenge his loss to veteran Russian Alexander Povetkin, detailed the motivation behind his pursuit to dethrone the ‘Gypsy King’.
“I’m very confident to beat him. It will be good to shut up a few people man,” he added.
“It will mean everything to me. I am a guy who, as a child, had no future, no education, no family. I’m a survivor. I’ve been on the streets since I was a kid.
“I started from nothing. I had no support, no support and I didn’t even go to school, so I didn’t play sports in school.
“For someone like me to come from where I’m from and be a heavyweight champion of the world, that’s a real inspiration. It’s a real inspiration. Not someone who comes from a family of boxers, or someone who went to the Olympics and was in the Olympic bubble.
“I was a street thug who could knock people out and I decided I couldn’t afford to go to jail so I have to do something else. So, I did that and got better and better, but I’m under no illusions.
“I don’t walk around saying I’m the best. I know what I am and I know what I bring. I have a lot of pain and frustration to inflict on someone.
It’s Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte’s show. We’re both in the fight together, so some things have to be done right. I don’t dance to nobody’s tune
Dillian Whyte
Promoter Warren again addressed Whyte’s no-show at Wembley at the start of the media call, but admitted ‘hopefully we’ve now managed to get these issues sorted out’, before Fury played down any bad blood with his opponent.
It will be Fury’s first fight in the UK since 2018 and he stressed he would not underestimate the mandatory challenger, who has lost twice in 28 contests.
“Dillian is definitely one of the top five heavyweights for sure. He is number one in the WBC rankings. He deserves his shot and gets his shot at the title,” the 33-year-old insisted.
“It was just the announcement press conference, it wasn’t the actual press conference for the fight.”
During Fury’s one-man show at Wembley last month, he suggested Saturday’s fight could be his last.
But on Thursday he said: “I’m only thinking about Dillian Whyte right now, I’m not thinking about retirement. All of that will come after I’ve fought and we’ll think about what’s going to happen, what’s going to happen. future holds for me.
“Right now I have a huge task at Dillian. A lot of people underestimate Dillian Whyte, but not me.
Meanwhile, Fury could not comment on Daniel Kinahan, a man who has advised the world heavyweight champion in the past but this week was hit with sanctions by the US government.
A five million dollar reward for information about the Irish criminal gang Kinahan that led to the arrest and conviction of its leaders was offered by US authorities, but in a Zoom call that had nearly 100 participants , there were no questions about Kinahan and when the topic came up in the group chat, the moderator insisted that Fury should now leave the call.
Dillian Whyte is determined to stop the Wembley showdown from becoming the ‘Tyson Fury show’
