Bob Arum has backed Dillian Whyte to provide a sterner test to Tyson Fury than trilogy rival Deontay Wilder in their heavyweight clash later this year.
Fury will defend his heavyweight crown against Dillian Whyte after months of negotiations were finally settled by purse bids with Frank Warren set to stage the clash with Queensberry Promotions.
The 'Gypsy King' will return home to UK against his domestic rival after facing Wilder last year to settle their trilogy with a penultimate round stoppage.
Fury's promoter Arum believes his fighter will prevail but has warned the champion not to under-estimate his chances with his "big-punching" style.
"Whyte has a great chance because he's a big, big puncher," Arum told iFL TV.
"He's a very rugged heavyweight, a very experienced heavyweight. If anything, he poses a bigger danger to Tyson than even Deontay Wilder did."
Whyte has been waiting for his title shot since 2017 when he first became WBC interim champion with victory over Robert Helenius.
Talks have been hard graft for promoters in recent months with legal proceedings initially threatening to mar early talks.
After the purse split was ordered at 80 per cent in the champion's favour, Whyte appealed the decision and went into arbitration with the organisation for the second time.
This delayed purse bids and opened up the possiblity of Anthony Joshua stepping aside from his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk so Fury could face him for all the belts.
However this plan has now been shelved and purse bids were finally called with Warren making a bumper $41 million offer to stage the clash.
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Whyte will fight for the first time since his rematch victory over Alexander Povetkin last year helped him reclaim his mandatory challenger status.
The event is set to be staged in the UK with the Principality Stadium targeted in Cardiff to stage the event which is likely to take place in April.
Former cruiserweight Tony Bellew has also backed Whyte to pose an ominous test to Fury pointing out his powerful "attributes".
“Tyson Fury right now is the best heavyweight in the world,” Bellew told talkSPORT. “I think Oleksandr Usyk pushes him close but the way he dealt with Deontay Wilder last time out you can’t say he’s not the number one.
“But believe you me, Dillian Whyte is a problem for any fighter in the world. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s brave, he’s got all the attributes to cause any heavyweight problems.
“I’m not saying he’s the best heavyweight in the world, what I’m saying is no one in the world in heavyweight boxing will have an easy night against Dillian Whyte.
“It will be hard, it will be a battle, because as I said before, he’s big, he’s heavy, he’s brave, he’s going to get on your chest, he’s going to get involved, he’s not afraid to take a shot so you’re not going to get rid of this guy."
