At long last Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte is OFFICIALLY ON and one of the biggest fights in British boxing history is now just hours away.
On Friday January 28, Frank Warren and Queensberry Promotions won the purse bid to stage the world heavyweight title showdown with a massive bid of $41.025million – shattering the previous record of $32.1million set in 1990 when the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas won the right to stage the ‘Buster’ Douglas vs Evander Holyfield showdown.
Eddie Hearn and Matchroom lost out in the bidding war for the all-British superfight, after bidding $32,222,222 – which also would have broken the previous record.
Now the date and venue are confirmed too – and here is all we know so far about one of the biggest fights of 2022.
Fury vs Whyte date and time
Fury vs Whyte will take place on Saturday April 23, 2022 at London’s Wembley Stadium – which holds 90,000 fans for big boxing events like this.
Ring walks are likely to take place between 2200-2300 local time – that will be 1700-1800 Eastern Time in the United States, or 1400-1500 Pacific Time.
Fury vs Whyte TV channel & live stream
As the purse bid was won by Queensberry in conjunction with Top Rank, that tells us where the bout will land in terms of TV coverage.
UK TV
- In the UK the fight will be a pay-per-view affair on BT Sport Box Office – which has aired all of Fury’s bouts in recent years. The cost will be £24.95.
US TV
- In the United States the bout will land on ESPN, also as a PPV. Fury has a major contract with the ‘Worldwide Leader’ which is believed to be worth in the region of £80million. The PPV will retail for $69.99.
This of course means that streaming service DAZN – with whom Hearn and Matchroom have an exclusive partnership globally – is on the outside looking in for this superfight.
In terms of UK radio, talkSPORT has won the broadcast rights to air the fight.
Fury vs Whyte venue
The early frontrunners for Fury vs Whyte included Cardiff’s Principality Stadium but in the end Wembley won the day and that is terrific news for boxing fans given its huge capacity. It is expected to be packed with a record crowd of 94,000 on fight night.
Fury vs Whyte tickets
Ticket sales commenced on March 2 and sold out in rapid time. More than 85,000 sold on day one alone.
Fury vs Whyte odds
Fury is a strong favourite in the early going, with Sky Bet making him a 1/6 shot to win. Whyte meanwhile is the 7/2 underdog with the Draw a 25/1 shot.
In the United States, sportsbooks also have Fury as favourite. Major operator FanDuel makes him -495 (bet $495 to win $100) with Whyte trading at +475 (bet $100 to win $475) with Unibet and SugarHouse.
Fury vs Whyte betting picks
We like Fury to win this – he has been out to deep waters in those showdowns with Wilder and survived. Whyte should be a slightly easier night.
Tyson may have to endure some rocky moments in the opening three sessions, but we like him to force a stoppage between Rounds 5 and 8.
Fury vs Whyte weights
The weigh-in for the bout took place on Friday in London, and Fury was surprisingly light at 264lbs (18st 12lbs). That is 13lbs less than he was for that KO of Wilder in their trilogy fight last October.
Whyte meanwhile tipped the scales at 253lbs (18st 1lbs) – some six pounds heavier than for his last fight vs Alexander Povetkin.
The purses: How much will they earn?
The WBC decreed that there would be an 80/20 split for this fight – 80 to the champion Fury and 20 to the challenger Whyte.
Before they split any money, the WBC holds 10% of the purse bid to give to the winner as a bonus. So once that is removed that is:
- Tyson Fury: A guaranteed $29,538,000
- Dillian Whyte: A guaranteed $7,384,500
Current heavyweight champions: What is on the line?
So there are three heavyweight titles on the line in this bout – all held by the champion Fury.
The Morecambe man will put his WBC title, Ring magazine title and lineal title (the man who beat the man) when he faces Whyte.
The other current world heavyweight champion of course is the aforementioned Usyk. He holds the IBF, WBA and WBO titles after that upset of Joshua last September.
Tyson Fury record and profile
Tyson Fury is the reigning WBC, Ring magazine and lineal world heavyweight champion and he has a professional record of 31-0-1 – 32 fights in total, of which he has won 31 and drawn just one. He has 22 victories by way of knockout.
Fury was born on August 12, 1988 and now lives in Morecambe, Lancashire. He weighed just one pound at birth and doctors feared he may not survive – his father John named him Tyson after then-heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
Born into a fighting family, ‘The Gypsy King’ was already highly touted when he made his professional debut in late 2008 against Hungarian Bela Gyongosi. He won convincingly as expected and a star was born.
Standing 6ft 9ins tall, the once premature baby Fury has developed into an incredible physical specimen – with a reach of 85 inches. He has unusual speed and boxing ability for a man so big, and incredible stamina and reserves.
The one blemish on Fury’s paid record is that draw vs Deontay Wilder in their first fight in Los Angeles in December 2018. Fury had to get off the floor twice to hear the final bell then – the second time an incredible recovery in Round 12.
Fury of course has put the record straight with Wilder since, destroying ‘The Bronze Bomber’ with a seventh-round stoppage in Las Vegas in February 2020, and then knocking him out in 11 terrific rounds (again in Vegas) in October 2021. That trilogy fight was one for the ages, and Fury was again on the floor twice en route to an epic victory.
Bar those wins over Wilder, the best result on Fury’s resume is the first time he won a world heavyweight title – dethroning long-time Wladimir Klitschko in his adopted back yard of Germany in late 2015. Fury produced an incredible boxing performance to completely befuddle Wladimir en route to a convincing points victory.
That fight of course would be the last time Fury would step in a professional ring for almost three years. He took a long hiatus from boxing as he battled serious mental health issues. At times he considered suicide and he ballooned in weight to more than 400lbs.
But with the support of his family – led by wife Paris – he would begin a comeback in 2018 which led him to that terrific series of fights with Wilder. Tyson and Paris now have six children together.
Dillian Whyte record and profile
Dillian Whyte, known as ‘The Body Snatcher’, finally gets his shot at world-title glory in this massive showdown with Fury.
Whyte has been waiting several years for his title opportunity during two spells as mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Council (WBC). On the first occasion he was on the brink of facing Fury when he was knocked out in stunning fashion by Russian veteran Alexander Povetkin at Matchroom Fight Camp in August 2020. He avenged that defeat by battering Povetkin into retirement in the rematch on Gibraltar in March 2021.
Dillian was born in Jamaica on April 11, 1988 and his now 33 years of age. He fights out of Brixton, London and has a professional record of 28-2 – 28 victories and two defeats in 30 fights. A total of 19 of his wins have come inside distance.
Whyte’s two defeats to date have both come against top-level opposition and former world champions. First he was defeated by Anthony Joshua in a huge all-British showdown of undefeated fighters in December 15. Then came that stunning KO by Povetkin just under five years later.
Dillian has faced a string of elite fighters en route to that 28-2 record and his list of opponents is an impressive one.
Among others he has so far defeated Povetkin, Dereck Chisora, Joseph Parker, Oscar Rivas and Robert Helenius – all top-15 heavyweights in their day.
What does this fight mean for Fury vs Joshua?
Whisper it quietly, but the potential for Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua to finally happen is with us once again. Effectively we are back to where we were last September, at the semi-final stage with each man needing to win one fight to make this happen.
Right now, this is the scenario for Fury and Joshua to finally meet inside a ring:
- Fury defeats Whyte in their April 23 showdown.
- Joshua defeats Usyk in their rematch, likely in May 2022.
If those two things happen, then Fury and Joshua would again annex all of the world heavyweight titles, and a mouthwatering showdown for all of the marbles would be back on the cards.
Remember that the pair had agreed to meet in Saudi Arabia last August (a record $155million site fee had been agreed). But then Wilder scuppered that by winning an arbitration ruling to force his trilogy fight with Fury.
