Frank Warren has ripped into Dillian Whyte for his lack of promotion ahead of his heavyweight title clash with Tyson Fury on April 23. Fury is finally set to face Dillian Whyte for the WBC championship after the fight was mandated in December, after the fight encounteried significant delays, with purse bids being pushed back on four occasions.
However, an agreement was finally reached and the countdown to the fight is on - which will be Fury 's first in the UK since 2019 and potentially his last ever after confirming that he has no plans to fight again after facing Whyte.
The fight will take place under the Wembley arch with a record purse bid and in front of a capacity crowd in what could be the biggest British boxing fight of the 21st century so far. Fury took his chance to dub Whyte as a 'coward' ahead of the fight for not showing up to last week's press conference.
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And now, Fury's promoter Warren has once again not held back in his words for Whyte - clearly being frustrated by the Body Snatcher's lack of promotion, stating that he has been 'either badly advised or plain stupid’ for the way he has acted in the recent days.
Warren told Fight Night: "They had a smoking gun so that smoking gun has been fired, we’ve sold the tickets, that has really backfired in a big way and it’s a shame because we wanted them to be there [at the press conference]. We wanted to see Dillian Whyte, irrespective of being total unprofessional in the way he’s behaving to help promote this fight.
"The fact is it will be a good fight, he’s a good challenge for Tyson and I’m sure it’s a big moment for him all this time after he’s been waiting and by the way it’s not my fault he’s been waiting. He’s been with Matchroom, they had the world champion for god knows how long so don’t hold us accountable for all the problems that he’s experienced.
"This is a guy who’s been bleating, saying he’s been there in the position for 1200 days whatever it is and he’s got a problem with the WBC which is not my problem, and that’s between them and for them to resolve. In the meantime he participated in the purse bid where the percentages were agreed and the bids went in based upon that so everyone knew what they were getting into and afterwards to try and renegotiate after a purse bid, I’ve never heard anything like it.
“It’s so ridiculous what they’ve done, him and his team, he’s badly advised and if he’s making the final decision then he’s plain stupid. It’s become, and what I always felt it would be, is the Tyson Fury homecoming show and that’s how it turned out to be.
“Here’s a guy who’s larger than life, he’s the lineal champion, the best heavyweight of his generation and he held the room and as a result of all what he’d done to promote the fight we’ve done 85,000 tickets in three hours and at one stage Ticketmaster had 171,000 people in their virtual queue.
“Well it’s common sense isn’t it? Why would I put a record purse bid in that the challenger being Whyte gets paid just under $8million and has possible upside of $4m if he wins and then he shouldn’t show up to do anything and then you put a Tweet out saying ‘why should he do it to help other people coin money in?’ How is that professional?"
Fury said he was unfazed by Whyte's no show - adding that he does not care about his opponents antics, as he stated that this would be the 'Tyson Fury roadshow'.
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