Tyson Fury has explained what Dillian Whyte must do to beat him in the pair’s expected heavyweight title fight this spring.
WBC champion Fury has been ordered to defend his belt against mandatory challenger and interim title holder Whyte, with a clash between the Britons likely to take place in the UK in April.
Fury, 33, will enter the bout undefeated at 31-0-1 (22 knockouts), while Whyte’s professional record stands at 28-2 (19 KOs). The pair know each other’s skillsets from their time as sparring partners, though Fury has said he will take more confidence from those sessions than Whyte will.
Speaking about the fight at a press conference around his new energy drink Furocity, which launches on Wednesday 16 February, Fury said on Friday: “I’m not in training camp so to say, although I train every single day. I am expecting an announcement in the next couple of days that Dillian has signed the contract or not.
“What am I gonna do to him? It’s gonna be ferocious. It’s been a long time coming; we go back a long way, he used to be my sparring partner. We know each other pretty well.
“Don’t get me wrong, I used to get the better of him in sparring sessions, but he’s gotten better since then. I’m preparing for the best Dillian Whyte there’s ever been. He’s a very tough, worthy opponent for anybody – a big, strong man with knockout power.
“If he hits anybody on the chin, he knocks them out.”
And Fury told The Independent at Friday’s press conference that a stoppage is the only way he can envision Whyte potentially beating him.
“He just needs to knock me out, pretty easy. Get stuck in, fire big right hands and left hooks and hope one lands and KOs me.
“Other than that, he’s in trouble. Get stuck in, put your best foot forward and windmill away until one lands. Then try to keep me on that canvas, which has been proven to be hard over the years.
“Like I’ve always said, bring your six-inch nails and nail me to that canvas. Other than that, I’m getting up and I’m coming for your a**.”
Fury said he expects an announcement around the fight to be made in the coming days, though he remained tight-lipped on an exact date and venue.
“I’ve not been told about the venue or an accurate date yet, I think that news is to follow soon,” he said. “I think [promoters] Frank [Warren] and Bob [Arum] are working hard behind the scenes to get a massive venue nailed down.
“I’m happy to be home and to put on a show for everybody. I believe it’ll be the biggest sporting event in boxing that this country’s ever seen. It’s definitely gonna be in the UK. That’s for sure, there’s no ‘assuming’ about it.”
Fury could instead have faced fellow heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in a unification bout next, but a step-aside deal involving Anthony Joshua fell through.
Usyk outpointed Joshua in September to take the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts, and the beaten Briton subsequently triggered a rematch clause to face the undefeated Ukrainian again. Joshua’s monetary demands reportedly led to the collapse of the proposed step-aside deal, which would have seen Fury take on Usyk.
“Let’s just say that didn’t happen because one of the parties came back on the final day and said: ‘I want X amount of millions more, or else I’m not doing it,’” Fury said.
“Then [I] said, stick the X amount of millions up your rear end. It was very complicated and very stressful for me to deal with these idiots.
“I don’t like all the snaky behaviour; they’re like rattlesnakes in the grass, they say one thing and mean another. I’m like a dog; if I’m barking at you and growling, I’m probably gonna bite you, but if I’m wagging my tail, you know I won’t. These are like reptiles.”
