Tyson Fury says he won’t allow belts or organisations to derail a blockbusting showdown with Anthony Joshua in 2021 by forcing him into a showdown with Dillian Whyte.
Fury (30-0-1) appears to be lined up to meet AJ (23-1) twice next year after the pair ‘agreed in principle’ the financial terms for a two-fight deal earlier this week.
Fury and Joshua both have fights to negotiate before the big all-British clash can take place – Fury a third meeting with Deontay Wilder and Joshua a defence against Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev.
One other potential stumbling block to a world heavyweight title unification fight is the fact that mandatory contender Whyte (27-1) is due a shot at the WBC title with February 2021 the current deadline. Earlier this week WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman re-terated the current position on that.
Fury however says he wants the biggest fights available – and claims ‘The Body Snatcher’ does not fall into that category.
Appearing on Queensberry Promotions’ Lockdown Lowdown on YouTube, he explained: “I stole his (Whyte’s) mandatory position – of course I did – because I’m sellable, I’m undefeated and I’m the lineal champion and people know they can make a ton of money out of me. Where Dillian Whyte is a one-hit wonder and he got knocked out by AJ already, and there’s not much money to be made there.
“At the end of the day it’s prizefighting and it’s about making money. These promoters and things – they want to make as much money as possible from having the biggest fights possible. So Dillian Whyte vs Joe Bloggs Jr isn’t really a big fight but ‘The Gypsy King’ vs anybody is a big fight, as we’ve seen time and time again.
“The answer to Dillian Whyte is ‘wait in the queue mush, and whenever your time comes it’ll come, and that’s it, and I’m not really interested in you at all’. I’m interested in the biggest money fights possible, I’ve got five kids to feed, house bills to pay and it’s all about the biggest fights and at the end of the day, I’m after that trillion dollar pay cheque, and I’m sure it ain’t gonna come from Dillian Whyte, that’s for sure.”
Fury, who is the WBC and Ring magazine champion (Joshua holds the IBF, WBA and WBO belts) went on to say that the only title which matters to him now is that of lineal heavyweight champion of the world. One he already holds.
“I’m about fighting the biggest fights out there. Wilder/Joshua/Joshua is the biggest fights out there,” he said.
“Dillian Whyte is looking for a payday against me. Pulev’s looking for a payday. All these challengers and mandatories, they’re not sellable – especially in America. I’m looking to do big fights – big, colossal fights. the last few fights I’ve got left whether I’ve got 10 fights or three or two, might even have one – might get knocked out in my next fight, who knows. But, I want them to be the biggest possible fights.
“So whoever is the biggest possible fights at that time, is who will get the fights. And it won’t be a belt or an organisation or anybody dictating to Tyson Fury. Because let’s face it, nobody has ever dictated to the champ. Nobody’s ever dictated to me who I’m gonna fight and who I’m not gonna fight.
“These low-profile fighters, they don’t mean anything to me. I’m after the biggest, best fights that are available. So whatever it takes to do that, then I’ll do it.
“I’m a proud WBC champion but, at the end of the day, I’m the lineal heavyweight champion of the world which trumps everything. Nothing matters only the lineal championship to me as I’ve stated many many times.
“I’ve completed boxing now – I’ve gone from the English champion and every belt else along the way. I’ve won all of ’em, I’ve got ’em here to prove it. So yeah the belts really aside are just pieces of leather with some fancy metal stuck on them, and they don’t really mean a lot.”
