Tyson Fury vs Dillian Whyte - news: Latest build-up to heavyweight title fight

“Tyson Fury arguably eclipsed Anthony Joshua as the household name in British boxing.

“Fury, 33, returned to the sport in 2018 after three years off due to a long struggle with his mental health.

“Since then, he has established himself as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, dethroning Deontay Wilder to become WBC champion in the pair’s 2020 rematch, having controversially drawn with the American in their first clash, in 2018.

“In his most recent bout, Fury stopped Wilder for the second fight in a row to retain the belt.

“A creative fighter who has demonstrated remarkable resilience and heart in the ring, Fury previously held the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles and looks destined to regain them and reign as undisputed champion in the future. First, however, he must defend his WBC belt against Dillian Whyte.”

Here’s what we had to say about Fury in our men’s pound-for-pound boxing list. But where does the “Gypsy King” rank?

Frank Bruno believes Tyson Fury will find his sold-out Wembley showdown with Dillian Whyte “more awkward” than a potential fight against Anthony Joshua.

World heavyweight champion Fury has dubbed Saturday’s clash with mandatory WBC challenger Whyte the biggest British bout since boxing great Bruno was defeated by Lennox Lewis 29 years ago.

Undefeated Fury is a heavy favourite this weekend but former champion Bruno feels Whyte – who earlier this year was expected to step aside and allow his opponent an undisputed championship encounter with Usyk – is capable of causing an upset.

“You’ve really got to give Whyte credit where credit’s due because I think they wanted to wipe him off and get him out the way,” Bruno told the PA news agency. “But I think this is one of the awkwardest [sic] out of the lot...”

Oleksandr Usyk will “study” Tyson Fury’s fight against Dillian Whyte this Saturday, knowing he may well await the winner of the WBC heavyweight title fight.

Unbeaten Ukrainian Usyk holds the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts, which he is set to defend this June or July in a rematch with Anthony Joshua, the man he dethroned in September.

A unification bout between the winner of Usyk vs Joshua and the victor of Fury vs Whyte could be next, although Fury would likely rematch Whyte if he loses the WBC belt to his fellow Briton on Saturday.

In any case, Usyk and his team will keep a close eye on the Wembley clash this weekend, according to the southpaw’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk.

Dillian Whyte’s former trainer Mark Tibbs is pleased the heavyweight will get an “overdue” world title shot this week and says the Brixton boxer knows how to beat Tyson Fury but admits putting it into practice is a different matter.

Whyte has waited patiently for his chance to fight for the WBC-belt, stating he was the mandatory challenger to Deontay Wilder as far back as 2018 only to see the former world champion take on Fury in what turned out to be a trilogy.

Tibbs, who worked with Whyte for four years, told the PA news agency: “I had a good journey with Dillian and I really enjoyed it. We had a good time together.

“I am pleased for him that he has got his world title shot at last. It is well overdue and I was a little bit surprised he wasn’t performing with the press conference but I was relieved on Wednesday when I realised he has been playing a game and now he was playing ball after that tweet.

“Knowing Dillian as I do and knowing his strength of mind and character, I really believe he will be the best Dillian Whyte on April 23. He will be tuned in, he will be focused mentally and nothing will faze him. It will fuel him mentally.”

Tyson Fury has refused to reveal whether or not he has ended his relationship with Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of a cartel responsible for “smuggling deadly narcotics to Europe”.

Fury, who defends his WBC heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte on Saturday, is believed to have been advised by Kinahan in recent years.

Kinahan was sanctioned by the US Treasury last week for his alleged role in the afore-mentioned drug smuggling, and the US Drug Enforcement Agency has offered rewards of up to £3.8million for information leading to the arrest of Kinahan, his brother or his father. Shortly after the sanctions were imposed, Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum claimed he had paid a similar amount to one of Kinahan’s companies, owing to the Irishman’s role as an advisor to the heavyweight champion. Kinahan has no criminal convictions and has always denied any wrongdoing.

During an open workout at Wembley Boxpark on Tuesday, Fury was asked about his relationship with Kinahan by Neil Barker of the Associated Press.

“That’s none of your business and none of anybody else’s business, I don’t think. Is it?” Fury replied. “My business is my business, your business is yours.

“Like I say, it’s got nothing to do with me in boxing. I’m just a stupid boxer who gets punched in the face for a living. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

More from Fury here:

Dillian Whyte has dismissed suggestions that he was knocked out or dropped by upcoming opponent Tyson Fury in old sparring sessions between the pair.

Fury, 33, and Whyte, 34, sparred with one another earlier in their careers, with Fury having said often in the build-up to Saturday’s main event that he dominated his compatriot in those encounters.

“Tyson Fury’s never knocked me out and never dropped me,” Whyte told The Independent columnist Steve Bunce in an interview with BT Sport this week.

“Ask him about the rest of the sparring. He’s never held his hands up and said: ‘I never knocked him down or dropped him or anything like that.’ But I can hold my hands up and say: ‘Tyson Fury’s never knocked me out, knocked me down, or dropped me ever.’

“There have been times in sparring where he’s outboxed me, because I never had no experience...”

One of the stories simmering in the way in the background as this fight edges closer is around Tyson Fury’s relationship to Daniel Kinahan. While Fury was not asked about the alleged crime boss on a conference call last week, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has addressed rumours of his own connection to the Irishman.

Kinahan was last week named as being a head of the Irish Kinahan crime gang and hit with worldwide financial sanctions by the United States government.

Sulaiman has said he has “at no time” had any relationship with Kinahan, who has acted as an advisor to Fury in the past.

The WBC boss said in a statement on Monday: “Whilst visiting Dubai recently I was introduced to Daniel Kinahan, who has since been placed on a sanctions list by the US Treasury Department, concerning alleged links to drug crimes.

“This has generated speculation and attacks on myself and the WBC. I therefore feel it necessary to make it clear that at no time have we had any relationship with Daniel Kinahan.”

More from Sulaiman here:

It will finally be Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in a very personal fight under the eyes of a global audience, writes Steve Bunce.

Fans will travel to London in hope, hate and belief to sit under the glowing bar that fills the gap between ring and sky at the stadium; they will be lucky witnesses to a night of history.

At some point close to 11pm, the night will be lit by 94,000 fanatics holding up their phones to create our unique boxing milky way of sparkles; then the flames will come. Everybody will feel the heat, trust me.

In the tunnels at Wembley, the first of the two fighters will have left his safe dressing room and will be shuffling to the point of entry, and also the point of no return; the other fighter will be in one last prayer huddle. Whyte will wait, Fury will pray.

There will be bedlam and howling as the music plays and the moment of contact moves ever closer. At last, the wait will nearly be over and the words will have long dried up in the mouths of all interested parties. Too much has been said. It will just be Fury and Whyte and 50 metres of distance to cover in the most important walk of their lives.

Read Steve Bunce’s fight preview in full, right here:

Tyson Fury’s father John has insisted that his son will not retire after Saturday’s fight with Dillian Whyte.

Tyson, 33, has spoken during the build-up to the all-British clash at Wembley Stadium about his plans to hang up the gloves regardless of the outcome of the bout. But John, Tyson’s father, insists he believes there is no chance of his son stepping away from the sport in the near future.

Speaking at Tuesday’s public workout, he said: “Ninety-four-thousand people change a man’s mind in a second. Where can you go after that? You can’t go back to normality, you can’t go picking your kids up from school, reading the paper, going for a coffee at Starbucks. You want that bit more.

“We’re alright for a few weeks, but I’m his dad and I know him better than anybody. It won’t be his last fight. No.

“He’s got [Oleksandr] Usyk and he’s got AJ [Anthony Joshua] yet, the winner of them two. That’s enough to bring any man back. And that’ll be another 100,000 crowd with the winner of them, so what’s he gonna do? Watch all that take place while sat at home drinking coffee? That’s not Tyson Fury.”