Dillian Whyte refused to attend Tuesday’s press conference for his upcoming fight with Tyson Fury, turning down the chance to go face-to-face with his fellow Briton ahead of their WBC title bout.
Champion Fury will put the belt on the line against mandatory challenger and interim title holder Whyte on 23 April, with the contest set to take place at Wembley Stadium – where Tuesday’s press conference was held.
There had been rumours that Whyte, who has largely been silent since the fight was confirmed, would not attend any pre-fight press conferences, and the “Bodysnatcher” snubbed Tuesday’s event.
Whyte’s absence was explained ahead of time by Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum, who told Boxing Scene: “He will not come to the press conference.
“We won the purse bid, which was way higher than the next biggest bid, and he’s not coming to the press conference because we wouldn’t give him a percentage of the upside [from pay-per-view sales], which you don’t get in a purse bid.
“He told us he won’t come to any of the press conferences except the last one.”
Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) has been training for the bout with Fury in Portugal, where he lives.
The 33-year-old last fought in March 2021, knocking out Alexander Povetkin to avenge his own stoppage loss to the Russian from August 2020.
Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs), meanwhile, retained the WBC title and remained unbeaten by knocking out Deontay Wilder in October. It was the second fight in a row that the “Gypsy King” had stopped the American, with whom he fought to a controversial split draw in the rivals’ first clash.
