Dillian Whyte is hoping to finally secure a world heavyweight title shot as he eyes a clash with Tyson Fury in the early part of next year.
The 32-year-old recently withdrew from his fight against Otto Wallin on 30 October due to a shoulder injury.
Some doubted the validity of the injury as Whyte is in line for a fight with WBC champion Fury and may not have wanted to jeopardise that position.
But Whyte has rubbished those claims, telling BBC 5 Live’s Boxing podcast: “People know I don’t pull out of fights. My shoulder just completely shut down - I was in pain. Come out of the ring and said something’s not right here.
“This ain’t right for me to complain about. We went and did an MRI [scan] the next day and it showed my shoulder was way worse than I thought it was. I wanted to fight.”
Whyte, whose only defeats have come at the hands of Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin, is now looking towards Fury in 2022.
And while he has not completely ruled out the Wallin fight being rescheduled, he is adamant nothing will stand in his way of a WBC title shot.
“That’ll be the plan (to fight Fury). It’s Wallin or Fury next,” he added when asked what his immediate plans are.
“Of course Wallin is going to be upset. He’s spent money he thought he was going to earn. Many times I’ve had fights fall through, you can’t be upset.
“This is an investment in your career and your future. I see why he’s upset. Some fighters don’t dodge fights, some fighters don’t pull out of fights. But in that time, if a potential better opportunity comes up, I’ve been waiting to fight for the world title. I’m not going to put it off to fight Otto Wallin.”
